Breakout
by Shelbey
Summary: AU. Mitchie Torres wants to go to Camp Rock. The only problem? She's a girl, and it's an all boys camp. She's planning to do anything to get in, but being roommates with a hopeful musician named Shane Gray might not be exactly what she planned on.
1. Prologue

**Summary**: Mitchie Torres wants to go to Camp Rock. The only problem? She's a girl, and it's an all boys camp. She's planning to do anything to get in, but being roommates with a hopeful musician named Shane Gray might not be exactly what she planned on.

Prologue

"Please Mom?" Mitchie begged, pulling on Connie's sleeve as she tried to put dishes away. Her mother gave her a look and Mitchie let go of her shirt, smiling sheepishly, backing slightly away and putting her hands behind her back. "Just one phone call, Mom, then I'll stop bugging you I promise."

She sighed. "Mitchie, it says right on the brochure, Camp Rock is an all boys camp, sweetie. Nothing one mom can say is going to get you in." Her smile faded and Connie sighed, crossing her arms, looking at her daughter's disappointed expression. "All right, I'll call," she replied, and Mitchie threw her arms around her waist.

"Thank you!" she gushed as her mother picked up the phone, dialing the number on the brochure and holding the phone to her ear. On the other end someone picked up, and she was all business. "Hello, I'm calling about Camp Rock? Yes, I'd like to enroll my daughter." She paused for a moment. "Well, I don't think that's really fair, what if girls want to attend something like this?" She was quiet again, and nodding along to what the rep on the other line was saying.

Mitchie, for her part, was nervous. This was the most prestigious music camps ever. From what she's researched, kids from all over the world went there to partake in the amazing lessons that they would learn. Find their sound, and rock the world. Because more often than not, kids who went to Camp Rock got amazing record deals and went on to be amazing pop culture sensations, all over Hot Tunes TV. For Mitchie, though that's not what she was worried about, the fame.

She wanted to play her own music.

"Thank you." Mitchie glanced up from her musings and saw her mom smiling brightly. Her heart bounced into her throat, and she nervously awaited for what happened. "Mitchie, I'm sorry, but they won't let you into Camp Rock. But they gave me information for a girls' camp from the same people called Camp Pop!" She frowned. She hadn't even heard of that school, or anything about it. She doubted it was as good as Camp Rock.

She sighed inwardly. "Never mind, then mom."

"I'm sorry sweetie."

She tried to smile. "It's fine." She trailed up to her room, discouraged, and got onto the Internet, trying to find anything about Camp Pop that might make it more appealing to make her want to go there.

**AN** I know what you're thinking. I do. WHY IS SHE WRITING ANOTHER CAMP ROCK CHAPTER STORY WHEN SHE HASN'T EVEN FINISHED THE FIRST ONE??

Well, just to start, I just have one more chapter to post on 'Connect' and I was feeling so empty without it. I wanted to cry, honestly. I didn't want it to be over! So I'm writing a new one, alternate universe, and here's the thing: the characters from Connected will be in here! They may just have a cameo, but they're not going to have big parts, really. I like them, and I don't want to let them go. So here we are!

This is going to be a Shane/Mitchie, Jason/Ella, Nate/Caitlyn kind of story. So kick back and relax, the newest chapter will be next Sunday!


	2. 1: Lackluster

Chapter 1: Lackluster

"It's like a lame form of Camp Rock," Mitchie complained on the phone to her best friend Sierra, laying on her back on her bed. She tugged at a strand of long auburn hair, staring at the ceiling in distaste. In her room was some pretty decent music technology. Her laptop and her keyboard, as well as her electric guitar. Posters of different artists adorned her walls, and it was pretty clear that this girl was all about the music. "It's for all girls, but it's totally not appealing. I mean, it opened last year so I doubt they know what they're doing the way Camp Rock does."

Sierra sighed. "Beggars can't be choosers, Mitch."

She was about to argue back, but something hit her. _Mitch_? "Oh, my gosh," she gasped, sitting up in her bed. It seemed so simple, so easy, but also something that would get her in so much trouble if she got caught. Her mind was reeling, thoughts ringing through her mind and bouncing around, making her head spin. She could see herself pulling it off, she really could.

"What?" She was silent, staring at herself in the mirror for a long time. "Mitchie? What's wrong? You okay?" Ignoring Sierra, she used her free hand and pulled her hair behind her, trying to make it look short, but not too short. Almost like a boy's haircut would be. She swallowed, letting her locks fall down around her face.

"Sierra," she choked out, her hand tight on the phone.

"...yeah?"

"How well do you think I would look with short hair?"

It was Sierra's turn to be silent this time. "Why do you ask?" she questioned after a moment, her voice with a hint of suspicion in it.

"Because I just had the most insane idea in the world."

--

"Mom!" Connie Torres glanced up from her cookbook and watched her daughter fly down the stairs, her face flushed in excitement and a pamphlet in her hands. "I just did some major research on Camp Pop, and I decided that I want to go!"

Her mom's smile brightened. "I'm glad you're excited, sweetie! How do we sign you up?" This was the tricky part. She had been on the phone with Sierra for two hours, trying to decide the best plan of action. They had decided that trying to convince Connie to let Mitchie take care of everything was the best idea.

"I'll do it, okay?" she replied quickly, putting her hands on her mom's shoulders and gently pushing her back into her seat. "I've already looked up everything that needs to be done, and it'll be so much easier if I do it, okay, Mom?" She smiled and nodded pulling out her credit card and handing it to Mitchie. For a moment she was stunned it worked so easily, staring at her mom in shock and surprise. Connie shrugged, and pressed it into her daughter's hands.

She said, "I trust you, sweetie. I know you're not doing anything that I wouldn't want you to." Mitchie was about to crack right there, the trust on her mom's face unnerving. But she nodded stiffly and hurried back up the stairs, and logged onto the computer. She went to the Camp Rock web page, and clicked on the button that said _Enroll_. She typed in all the information it asked for, putting in her name as Mitch Torres instead of Mitchie.

Sierra had been appalled at her idea, and tried her best to convince her against it, but Mitchie wasn't going to be budged from her decision. So in the end, Sierra had given up trying to stop her, and instead had told her best friend that she'd try her best to help her in anyway she could. Thought she wasn't sure if she really agree with one of those things...

"_A haircut?" she gasped, her eyes looking Mitchie's long locks up and down before returning to her face._

_She nodded. "I need one before I go to Camp Rock. I have to look like a boy, Sierra, otherwise this will never work." She put her face in her hands, and nodded in defeat. "It needs to be at the last minute, so my mom doesn't see it before I leave, you know?"_

"_Got it."_

Mitchie stared at the numbers of the credit card typed into the payment box seeming almost surreal. Was she really going to do this? Sneak into a strictly all boys camp, pretending to be a boy?

She had been writing everything out. Everything that could possibly go wrong, and everything she had to do to keep it from going down that road. Her own cabin was the main priority, regardless of what anyone said or did. New clothes were on her list of things to buy, as well as other things that she knew that boys would probably have. Like a new guitar case to replace the pink one she owned.

Licking her lips, Mitchie pressed the submit button.

--

"Do you have all your things?" Connie asked Mitchie, poking through her bags.

She pulled her things away from her mother and tried to smile good-naturedly. "Please, mom. I've got everything, I promise." She nodded and gave her a hug, waving to Sierra and her mom.

"Have fun, Mitchie. And thank Sierra's mom for driving you to the airport for me. It was so nice of her to give your hair a trim before you go to Camp Pop."

Mitchie laughed nervously. "Yeah, a trim..." She waved and ran out the door with her bags in tow, climbing into Sierra's car beside her. One last wave to her mom, and then the door was shut, the resounding bang making her jump. She was jittery, jumpy, and nervous. This was something entirely different to her, and as much as she had prepared for it, she wasn't sure if she was really ready to face her decision. This was something she had never even thought of doing before, something totally strange.

And as much as she wanted to go to Camp Rock, was this really worth it?

Sierra fixed her glasses on her nose, sitting by Mitchie's bags in the lobby of her mother's hair salon. Luckily for Mitchie, it was only about a ten minute drive from here to the airport. At first, Sierra's mother thought she was kidding about how short she wanted it, but she kept insisting, so the woman begrudgingly began to chop the long locks off.

It took a little bit longer than Mitchie thought it was going to, but when Sierra's mother was done, she turned the chair around so she could see for herself. A moment passed as Mitchie stared at the reflection, trying to find herself in the mirror. The makeup was still there, and the clothes and the hair color, but otherwise she never would have known it was herself.

Her hair was parted on the side, not too short, but not long enough to make her look feminine either. It was kind of flipped out on the ends, covering half of her forehead. She tilted her head as she looked in the mirror. Truth be told, she merely looked like a very pretty boy now, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "That's how you wanted it, darling?" Sierra's mother asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "You had such pretty hair."

Mitchie shook her head. "It's perfect, thank you." She paid for the haircut and stepped out into the lobby, her head feeling so much lighter without her long hair weighing it down. Sierra stared at her in surprise, a hand to her mouth.

"Mitchie?" she squealed in shock, staring at her.

"This is me!" she announced, laughing. When Sierra still looked appalled, she furrowed her brow. "Does it look that bad?"

She shook her head. "I didn't recognize you! My gosh, you look totally different!"

"That's what I was planning on." She looked at herself in the mirror from a few different angles. She did look different, and that was all she could do now to make herself more masculine. _No going back now_.

**AN** Shelbey lied! Here's chapter one! I know it's pretty short, but I wanted to get to Camp Rock as soon as possible... that's horrible of me without giving you much of a beginning, but I know you ALL want to see Shane, Nate, and Jason!

...right?


	3. 2: Arrival

**AN** Oh my Frankie Jonas! I never thought this would hit off that fast! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, I appreciate it so much! Thank you! -hugs all around-

Chapter 2: Arrival

Mitchie looked around the camp as she stepped onto the grassy plane. Every single person here was a boy. All of them. The singers, the guitar players, and the drummers. Not that this particular instance should have surprised her, really, as it said all over the pamphlet this was an all boys camp. A few of the aforementioned males nodded at her as she walked by, her green and black guitar case strapped to her back, and dragging her suitcases behind her.

She sported an outfit of tight black jeans and a dark green tee shirt. The ace bandage wrapped around her chest kept her body from looking curvy, and she had made sure to pick out clothes that would make her look more boyish. It wasn't hard, with Sierra's objective view and the short haircut. A pair of black Converse were on her feet, as she weaved in and out between the male campers trying to avoid running into any body. She kept her eyes down, trying to avoid looking into anyone's faces.

Mitchie was already nervous, and camp hadn't even technically started yet. It seemed everything she dreamed it would be, though, regardless of her anxiety about being here. Everyone's number one priority was music, just like her. She could relate to these people, more than she ever had with anyone. For some reason, she had never been on the same page with most people, except for probably her mother on most things.

She had never understood the music, even though she knew Mitchie was good. But being here with people who all shared the same interest was more than she could ever have hoped for.

Even if she was the only girl here.

"Hey there." She jumped and nearly fell off of her suitcase, looking around to see who had spoken to her. Perhaps the most handsome boy in the entire camp stood before her, giving her a perfect smile. He had dark hair, almost black, that hung perfectly straight around his face. He wore a pair of tight white pants and a black V-neck shirt with dark gray shoes. He was powerfully built, and carried a checkered guitar case on his back.

He was flanked by two other boys, one that was a little bit taller than he was and another that was a little bit shorter. The taller one had pretty hazel eyes and a round face, accented by his straight hair. The shorter one had a slightly less round face, and a mop of dark curly hair with dark brown eyes. They all seemed nice enough, to Mitchie, considering they were all smiling in different degrees. "Are you new to Camp, this year?'

She nodded stupidly, still staring at him, before shaking her head. "Yeah I am," she replied, trying to make her voice more masculine and not give herself away as she stood up from sitting on the suitcase.

"Cool. You're gonna have a ton of fun here. I'm Shane, by the way. Shane Gray." He held out his hand and Mitchie took it tightly, trying to make her handshake more firm. She felt her heart drop at how big his hands were compared to her own small ones, and pulled out of the handshake as quickly as she could.

"Mitch Torres," she provided, with a small smile. Her wide smile definitely would make her look girlish, and she didn't want that. Not when she was just about to make some friends, maybe.

He nodded, his perfect smile just making her heart skip_. No_, she chastised herself. This wasn't the point of coming to Camp Rock dressed like a boy. The point was not to start liking the first gorgeous boy she meets, it was to get the best musical experience she could get here, because she wouldn't get it if she went to Camp Pop. "Nice to meet you Mitch. These are my best friends, Jason Black and Nate White." She shook hands with Nate as he stepped forward with his arm extended.

"Hey," he said, giving her a nod.

"I'm Jason!" the other exclaimed in excitement, squeezing her tightly around the middle and almost lifting her into the air. She pushed him away in surprise, staring at him like he was crazy. Shane and Nate laughed as Jason looked at Mitchie in the utmost confusion, his brow furrowed. She avoided his eyes and turned back to Shane.

"Do you have a cabin yet?" he asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Er, yeah," she responded quickly, pointing to the only empty cabin in the camp. It was kind of out of the way, near the lake, and wasn't really near any of the other cabins. To her, it was perfect. "I'm staying there, by myself." The three of them were bemused and she cocked an eyebrow, wondering what they were thinking.

Shane said, "Well, Mitch, you don't have to do that. One of us will move in with you. There's no need to stay by yourself when it's your first year in camp!"

Flustered, Mitchie waved her hands to divert his attention from her reddening cheeks. "Oh, Shane, guys, don't worry about it I'll be fine!"

Rolling his eyes, Shane replied, "I don't mind at all, it'll be a relief to get away from their bickering."

Nate looked insulted. "We do not bicker!"

Before Shane could contradict him, Jason laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, we do."

Glaring at him, he snapped back, "_No_, we don't, Jason."

Shaking his head and smiling, he insisted, "_Yes, _we do, Nate."

"You know, I'm tired of you--"

"I don't know why you think--"

"_Guys_," Shane groaned, putting a hand against his forehead. Mitchie couldn't help but laugh at them, and Shane shot her a smile, making her look at the ground shyly. Inside she chastised herself as he teased, "See? Even Mitch can tell that you guys fight like an old married couple. And he's known you what? Two minutes?" He laughed.

Nate bristled. "I'm not married to Jason!"

"That... would be so... _weird_," Jason mentioned, staring at Nate who gave him a glare that clearly said, _Don't even go there_. Mitchie was too busy watching their silent interaction to notice that Shane had left them and come back with his luggage in tow.

"So it's settled them," he said firmly, walking towards the lonely cabin. Mitchie went to protest, but Nate cut her off with a shake of his head, eying Shane with a mix between amusement and annoyance. She stared at him in surprise, her head tilted in questioning as he and Jason watched Shane get settled in his new cabin.

Nate explained, "Dude, once Shane gets his mind set on something, you can't get him off of it. That's just the way he is. You might as well just let him be selfless and learn to live with it."

With a smile, Mitchie teased, "He must really want to get away from you guys." Nate's expression turned sour and Jason laughed loudly, giving the curly haired boy a light push that he just ignored.

"He's right, Shane does," Jason said cheerfully, following Nate around as he stalked back into their cabin.

"No he doesn't!" she heard Nate hiss from inside.

"My friends are really something, aren't they?" She turned and saw Shane smiling fondly at his old cabin, shaking his head. She gave him a smile and rolled her eyes, making him laugh. "Yeah, I know. Don't need to tell me twice, Mitch. But they're really great guys, especially when they're on stage. They really deliver."

"Sounds like a pretty good thing you've got here then," she said, crossing her arms in confusion. "Why bother with me then, if you've got two awesome best friends like Jason and Nate?" He was quiet for a moment, watching the face he thought belonged to a boy that really belonged to a girl. She shifted awkwardly to her other leg, feeling as if he could see right through her facade to the Mitchie that lay beneath the look that was barely planned out as it was.

He shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted, and she blinked, still puzzled. "You just seem different than most guys that come here, that's all. Not so stuck up or whatever, it's pretty cool."

Mitchie rolled her eyes and gave him a smirk. "Definitely... different." He smiled and punched her in the arm, playfully. It took every ounce of her willpower not to whimper in agony. Why did boys have to hit each other so _hard_? She smiled at him painfully, though he was obviously oblivious to her pain as he rested his elbow on her shoulder.

"So, Mitch, wanna see the cabin, then?" he asked, and she nodded, tearing her eyes away from him as she followed behind. She stared determinedly at the ground, dragging her suitcases behind her. He held the door open as she pulled the two cases inside, stowing them next to her bed. There were three beds in here, two next to each other and another set against the next wall perpendicular.

"Which bed do I sleep in?" she asked, edging towards the one that was farthest away from the bed that Shane was sitting on. It left an entire bed between them, and less room for awkward conversation. He blinked and looked between the two, then shrugged.

"I don't really care," he told her. Mitchie smiled tentatively and sat down on the best farthest away. It creaked and collapsed in on itself, almost folding her inside the mattress. Amidst her confusion, she could make out Shane laughing at her, and her cheeks grew hot. His face came in view above her, and he reached a hand out to help her up. "I guess that's not going to work, is it, Mitch?" She rolled her eyes and took his hand, allowing him to pull her out of the wreckage of the old bed.

When she was upright, she took her hand from his and looked at the damage done. "Geez," she mumbled, flustered. "My first day in camp and I already destroyed something."

Shane consoled, "Don't worry about it, dude. This cabin wasn't even used last year, so I doubt they thought to see if the beds were still in good condition. These two are fine though," he motioned to his and the one next to it. _That's what I was afraid of_, Mitchie thought anxiously, moving her stuff over to the bunk that was closer to Shane Gray that she needed to be. They silently put their things away, not knowing what to say.

It didn't take very long for them to unpack their suitcases and stow them under the beds, Mitchie pretending the broken one didn't exist anymore. She put up her guitar against the wall next to Shane's and sat on the bed in her socks, her sneakers on the floor next to it as she stared out the window. So far so good, from what Mitchie could tell. Shane, Nate, and Jason thought she was a boy, and there was no evidence against that claim.

"Mitch?" Shane asked, his voice sounding strained.

"What?" she asked, looking around at him. He pointed to her dresser and she blanched. There was a pink bra sticking out of the drawer and she put a hand to her face. Her mind was reeling as she tried to think up a believable story quickly.

"That's my sister's," she mentioned, trying to look annoyed as she took it out pretending to be disgusted. She threw it into her suitcase and rolled her eyes, shoving it back under the bed. _Out one bra for the week_, she thought. "Mom must have accidentally packed it in mine while she was packing her for camp too." Shane nodded and smiled, shaking his head.

He mentioned, "That sucks."

"Yeah."

The silence grew awkward, as they looked at each other. Mitchie glanced away and laid back on the pillow, staring at the wood ceiling tiredly. It felt like a long day, even though she had slept on the plane ride up here. "Hey, Shane," she mentioned, looking over at him as he mimicked her actions, laying on his stomach on the bed and resting his eyes.

"What's up, Mitch?"

She smiled at him. "Thanks for being friends with me. It means a lot."

He shrugged. "No problem, man."

Almost two hours passed in this fashion, the two of them sitting in silence and dozing off in their beds, Mitchie on her back and Shane on his front. Just as she was about to fall asleep, though, Shane's voice shook a little bit of the stupor off, saying, "I'll be right back, Mitch. I have to go to the bathroom." She waved her hand to show she heard him and waited about ten seconds after he closed the cabin door before glancing to her watch. It was almost eight at night, and she dug into her dresser and began to quickly undress out of her clothes and dress into her pajamas before Shane got back. She would feel uncomfortable undressing in front of a boy to begin with, and he didn't need to see the ace bandage binding her chest.

She didn't need unnecessary questions right now.

"Tired?" Mitchie jumped and glanced to Shane, who had come in quieter than he had left. She nodded, tossing her dirty clothes aside.

"A little bit. Jet lag, you know," she complained, stretching her arms over he head. She wore a pair of loose fitting plaid pajama pants and a baggy shirt, and a quick look into the mirror on the dresser told her that she still looked masculine enough.

He nodded understandingly and she crawled into bed, pulling the sheets around her shoulders. "Well, I guess it's a good idea to get to bed anyway. Classes tomorrow, you know."

"Mmhmm," she murmured, already falling asleep.

He chuckled. "Night Mitch."

"Night, Shane."

**AN** Ahhhh, how could you NOT fall in love with Shane Gray? Though I found someone that is almost as beautiful as Joe Jonas o.o

**_SHAMELESS PLUG TIME_**: His name is Jovan Johnson (JJ? Coincidence?? I don't know), he's in a local band around here called Verbatym. CHECK THEM OUT PLEASE!! They are really, really good. They're on myspace (dot) com (slash) verbatym. I would love you FOREVER!

I'm sure Nik Johnson (Nik J??) and Jovan would too. (Russell Steedle is my favorite. I have a thing for guitar players, it seems. -cough-KevinJonas-cough-) And if you search on YouTube for 'Verbatym SOS' they did a cover of SOS by JB. It was really good!

Love,

Shelbey -hearts-


	4. 3: Beginning

**AN** Ack! I'm sorry for not posting this yesterday, it was so hectic getting ready for school. But here it is now!

Chapter 3: The Beginning

Mitchie awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. She rubbed at her eyes and sat up in bed, yawning widely as she looked around the room. It was quiet, and the sun was barely over the horizon. Stretching her hands over her head she sat up in bed, ruffling her hair and nearly letting out a panicked cry. _My hair's all gone_, she thought frantically, then blinked at her unpainted nails, confused. She turned around and looked about the room, something catching her eye. Shane Gray slept quietly in the bed next over, and she watched him for a moment, the events of yesterday flowing back into her head.

Letting out a groan, she flopped back onto her pillow and put her arm over her eyes. It was too early to be awake, and Mitchie felt like she hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night. Her head was throbbing slightly, and she heard shuffling to her left. "Mitch? You all right, man?" she heard Shane question.

"Awesome," she muttered, sitting up again and shaking out her hair. He chuckled and started to go through his drawers, looking for something to wear. Before she could move, his shirt was on the ground and she was staring at him openly, her jaw slightly dropped. Shane Gray must work out, because he was so fit and muscular, like a perfectly sculpted statue. He started to turn to face her and she averted her eyes, pushing her blankets off and walking over to her own dresser.

"What are your classes today, Mitch?" he asked with a yawn, pulling on a pair of tight black jeans and a long sleeved shirt, pushing the sleeves up to his elbows. She looked around and tugged the schedule she had received in the mail out of her bag, looking down it.

"Uh," she murmured, reading down the list. "I have vocal lessons and hip hop dance, what about you?"

"Same, cool," he smiled. _Ack_, she thought in discomfort, picking up her new clothes and heading for the door. It wasn't much a coincidence for them to have the same classes, but it still irked her. It was like someone writing the story of her life was just _trying _to make her angry (and that person happened to have a username of K2-Romance.) What a pain in the neck. "Where are you going?" he asked in surprise.

"Shower," she replied quickly, running out the door before he could ask her anything else. She looked around the premises and ran into the building with the showers, closing the curtain behind her. The cold water startled her and she took her shower quickly, rinsing her hair and wrapping the ace bandage back around her chest before pulling on today's outfit. A pair of form fitting leather pants and a white tee shirt complete with a black vest and matching sneakers.

Stepping out, she dried off her short hair the best she could and looked in the mirror. With no make up on and brand new clothes that she was completely unfamiliar with, she barely recognized herself there. She pulled out a comb and tried her best to style her hair so it looked halfway decent, and after a few minutes hard work she was basically happy with the result. It looked like it was styled after the lead singer of that band of brothers that everyone was going crazy for back home, but that was the best she could do.

She walked back into the cabin and tossed her clothes into a pile for washing later, and she smiled at Shane. "Morning," she greeted tentatively as he laced his sneakers, sitting back onto her bed.

"Morning, Mitch," he said back, and then mentioned, "Dude, you smell like a girl." Mitchie blinked and glanced around, noticing that the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash she had used was the one she had brought from home accidentally. She hadn't even noticed it until now, so used to seeing it.

"Man," she complained. "Mom just got the packing all wrong, didn't she?" Shane laughed and dug into his drawer, pulling out a can of cologne, holding it out to her. She took it and cocked an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. "Maybe it'll help." She rolled her eyes and handed it back to him, making him laugh.

"No thanks, Shane. I'll deal with smelling like a girl," she said, shaking out her hair again. It was falling into her eyes, annoying her.

"You smell like a girl, and you look like that singer for that teen band, with the brothers," he chuckled, shaking his head. "You'll have such a fun day today, Mitch. Really." She didn't even bother to ask him what he meant by that, pulling all her stuff together and hoisting her guitar case onto her back. Mitchie knew she had to be prepared for anything today, and she was almost hyperventilating she was so nervous. Shane's words weren't helping out much either, really.

Finally feeling she was ready, she began to walk towards the door to go to breakfast. "Hey, Mitch, wait up. I'll show you where the mess hall is." _I just can't escape the nice guy, _she thought distractedly, wondering if she would feel better about it if she wasn't pretending to be a boy. With a sigh she realized that she probably would adore the attention, especially coming from someone like Shane.

Forcing a smile, she replied, "Thanks, man. I appreciate it." They walked out of the cabin together, and they heard Nate and Jason come up behind them and, unsurprisingly, they were arguing about something.

"That wasn't necessary!" Nate grumbled, shaking out his damp hair.

Jason laughed, throwing the water bottle away in a trash can nearby. "You weren't getting up! I didn't want you to miss lunch, silly Nate."

"It's _breakfast_!"

"But that doesn't--"

"Morning!" Shane greeted them, throwing his arms around their necks, smiling. Mitchie rolled her eyes at the clever diversion. He must have had years of practice and years of getting tired of their arguing.

Nate glared at him, but Jason returned the greeting with his own. The four of them entered the mess hall together, looking around at the campers there. Shane pointed out a few of the people he knew, "That's Seth Jones, with the green hair in the corner, and his best friend Aaron Shows. Don't bother with them, they like to keep to themselves mostly. There's Michael Brass sitting with Barron James and Sander Loya over there, they're pretty cool." A few of the people he mentioned waved to Shane, Jason, and Nate as they walked by to the buffet table, giving Mitchie strange looks.

"Why are they looking at me funny?" she whispered to Shane, furrowing her brow.

Jason piped up, "Because your hair looks like Joe Jonas'."

Nate rolled his eyes. "I doubt that's why."

"How would--"

"Why do you--"

Shane groaned, cutting them off. "It's too early for this, guys. Spare me." He turned to Mitchie, who had started to laugh, and explained, "You're new at Camp Rock, that's probably why. You know, new people always attract a lot of attention, and as far as I can see, you're the only new guy here this summer." Mitchie thought ironically, _There aren't any new _guys_ here_. Then he whispered, "Though you do kind of have hair like Joe's."

Mitchie glared at him, and he just shrugged.

"Hey Shane, Jason, Nate!" A tall lanky boy walked up to them, a pair of drumsticks sticking out of his pocket. They all exchanged what Mitchie could only assume were 'man-hugs,' excited to see each other. His dark eyes strayed to her face, and he became curious. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Mitch," Shane said, and she shook the stranger's hand. "This is his first year at Camp Rock. Mitch, this is Andy, he's a wicked drummer." Andy smiled.

"Thanks Shane. And it's cool to meet you Mitch. I hope you like camp."

"Oh, thank you." He walked away to sit with Barron and his friends, all of them laughing at something Sander said. "They all seem nice enough," she admitted, taking a bowl of fruit and putting it on her tray. Shane smiled in agreement and the four of them made their way through the crowded mess hall. Mitchie could almost smell the testosterone in the air, and it made her nervous. She wasn't really strong enough to stand up to the girls that bullied her and Sierra, let alone any _guys_ that might bully her here. But they all seemed to like Shane, so he probably wouldn't let that happen to her.

Well, to Mitch, at least.

They settled themselves down, Mitchie sitting by Jason and Nate by Shane. The seating arrangement seemed entirely habitual; Jason and Nate probably couldn't sit by each other without the very real possibility of food fight getting started. Silence covered their table as they began to eat. Even Jason was quiet as he powered down his own breakfast. Mitchie was contemplating, her eyes drifting between her three friends at the table.

She didn't know if it was safe for her to get close to them, as much as she wanted to. They all seemed like really nice guys. But that wasn't the point, she kept telling herself. Friends, crushes (especially crushes, that would lead to very awkward situations), they were completely optional, even out of the question at some point. She was here for the music and only for the music.

After they finished eating, Nate and Jason separated from Mitchie and Shane so they could each go to their respective classes. The walk there was in uncomfortable silence for Mitchie, though Shane was smiling and whistling the entire way there. She glanced up at him from under her bangs brushed to the side, as he stared off into space. He looked content, happy to be back at the place he seemed to consider his second home.

It was kind of sweet.

"Oh, Mitch," Shane mentioned, turning around to face her. She blinked in confusion and tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "I just want to tell you, my uncle teaches this class."

"Your uncle?"

Shane nodded. "Yeah, he's one of the founders of Camp Rock, and he's also an instructor. He can--"

Obviously not seeing an additional point to his observation, Mitchie stuttered, "Th-That's so cool!" Shane smiled and shook his head, throwing his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the the correct cabin as she waited in anticipation for the amazingly cool rock star that had started Camp Rock.

**AN** Apparently my hair does too. When I got it cut, the lady pointed at a poster and said, "You look like him!" and lo and behold it was Joe Jonas as Shane Gray.

Go figure.


	5. 4: Competition

**AN **Okay here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it, I really do.

Chapter 4: Competition

"Shane!" Everyone in the class glanced up as Shane and Mitchie walked in, making her frown. She was hoping that she would attract as little attention as possible, but with Shane's uncle as the instructor and her being friends with Shane, that obviously wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Morning Uncle Brown," he greeted cordially, hugging him. Mitchie stood behind Shane, observing the man. He was a little bit taller than his nephew, though stockier as well. He wore rings on his fingers and a necklace with a cross. Mitchie blinked. He was pretty cool, all things considered. She chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Brown's accent startled her out of her musings, making her jump slightly and earn a few snickers.

Everyone was looking at her, and she swallowed, getting nervous. She was going for less attention than everyone, not more. Her luck really had run out. Or... she never had any to begin with. "Oh..." She flushed, tugging at a strand of short brown hair. "I was just thinking... you're so cool, how did Shane end up like he is?" There was silence as they all looked at each other, then Brown started to laugh. The class joined in, even Shane, and she shrugged, staring down at her shoes.

"I like him, Shane," Brown chuckled, and Mitchie smiled, sitting down beside her very first friend as the class started. Much to her displeasure and fear, however, he began to call people up to sing. Her heart jumped into her throat. She hadn't perfected her vocals yet, she still sounded like a girl! She looked at Shane and hissed, "Are we going to have to?"

He nodded, looking at her incredulously. "What did you think? This is a vocal class, Mitch." She swallowed and rested her chin in her hand as the most recent singer Brown had chosen sat down. He went through most of the class quickly, making Mitchie more and more anxious as he got closer to where she sat. Finally, the inevitable. The last factor between her and getting caught.

"Shane, please," he said with a smile. Shane nodded and walked up to the front, giving Mitchie a disparaging look. Like he was saying, is this really so hard? She glared back at him as he sang a song that she head never heard before, a really good song. _So_, Mitchie mused, looking at the guitarist slash vocalist. _Shane writes his own music?_

"_Music's in my soul, I can feel it every day and every night. It's the one thing on my mind. Music's got control and I'm never letting go. I just want to play my music all night long!_" When he was finished he flashed a smile and bowed, the class clapping and cheering for him, Mitchie a little less exuberantly than the rest, considering she was the only person who had yet to sing.

Brown pointed at her as Shane sat down, making her freeze in her seat, staring. Shane nudged her in the side, snapping her out of her funk, and she stood up stiffly, walking slowly to the front. "I'm not a singer," she told Brown in a hushed whisper, clutching at her jacket nervously. Brown blinked and glanced over at Shane, who shrugged in confusion at her reaction. "I'm a guitar player. Really, no one wants to hear me."

"Just try one thing, so we can see where to work with you," he said, patting her on the back and forcing her to face the class. Seeing no other option she looked around at the class, Shane smiling at her expectantly, a hand to her heart as she sang softly, her eyes squeezed shut in concentration, "_Who will I be? Yes, I believe. I get to make the future what I want to. If I can become anyone and know the choice is up to me. Who will I be?_" She looked away from them all, too afraid to see what they would think of her voice. It was definitely not going to fool anyone.

"That was awesome," Shane mentioned through the silence, and there were murmurs of agreement around her.

Brown told her, "You probably didn't think you sounded good at all because your voice is set to a higher octave than most boys your age. That's all. Good job, Mitch." Stunned, she sat back down next to Shane and they exchanged glances, hers slightly terrified and his unreasonably excited. He blinked at her expression, his brow furrowing in confusion. Mitchie stared forward for the rest of the class, avoiding his attempts at catching her eye.

She didn't need any more attention.

A few minutes before the class got out, Brown mentioned, "I hope you all are preparing for the first Jam of the year. The girls will be disappointed if we don't deliver, and Dee will never let me live it down." There was laughing around Mitchie as she looked at everyone, perplexed, and trying to understand what was so funny. "Get out there and practice, boys. We'll win."

They all began to leave the classroom after Brown, and Shane waited for Mitchie until she finished packing up her things, telling her, "I keep forgetting you're new to Camp Rock."

"Yeah, what girls?" she questioned, making Shane laugh. That obviously gave him the wrong impression. The two of them walked down the stairs of the cabin, trailing through the trees as they spoke to each other. Campers from other classes crowded in cliques around them, but they waved to Shane and Mitchie as they passed.

"Dee la Duke is like the Brown of Camp Pop. Since Camp Pop opened two years ago, she and Brown have been going at it with their campers to see who has the better camp, you know? Year before last, the girls won." He shook his head. "Because Tess was pretty much running the camp by that point."

"Tess?" she asked, her head tilted.

"Tyler," he responded, sitting down on one of the benches by the dock. She sat in front of him, interested. "T.J. Tyler's daughter, you know the singer with the trillion Grammies?" She nodded and he rolled his eyes. "She's the queen of Camp Pop, pretty much. She's competitive and no one really likes her much, even her little group of friends, Ella, Peggy, and Caitlyn. They only put up with her because she brought them the win."

"That's not a really good reason," Mitchie mentioned, resting her chin in her hand.

"You think?" He smiled, and crossed his arms over his chest. His tone changed, and she furrowed her brow. "But, when I got here, and got together with Jason and Nate, we completely demolished Camp Pop last year. It was awesome."

"Fantastilistic, even." They turned around and saw Jason smiling behind Shane, with Nate following close. Jason flopped down on the ground at Mitchie's feet and Nate stood at Shane's shoulder, a smug expression on his face. Jason's hair was frizzed out from the humidity, and Nate's was as curly as ever, but both of them seemed pretty peaceful, not even bickering as they walked up.

Nate said, leaning against the log fence that separating this part of the dock from the water, "They're hell bent on beating us this year. My sister, Vanessa, she went there the year Tess got the win for them, so she knows a few of the girls that still go there and she can tell us that for sure." Shane and Mitchie laughed at that, but Jason was silent, his eyes still on Mitchie's face for a moment.

Before she could question, he exclaimed, "They won't win because Shane and Mitch will totally beat them!" The two he mentioned looked at each other in bemusement, back to Jason, and at each other again, trying to find something they were missing. When nothing became evident, they dismissed his comment, turning back to Nate.

"Ness told us to be careful, too. But she didn't want to give us an edge so she didn't say _why_." He rolled his eyes and slumped down against the wooden railing by the lake. The four of them glanced out over it, the tranquil atmosphere of the serene camp soothing all of them. A light breeze blew over the scenery, making the trees sway, and brushing all of their hair to the side. Mitchie glanced over from the lake and trained her eyes on Shane's face. His smile was so peaceful, like he wished he could spend the rest of his life in this spot with the people he cared about most.

And Mitchie felt so out of place there. Why was she here? What was the point of standing here with these close friends? She didn't belong in this group. She looked at Jason and Nate, who had the same expression, and licked her lips. She slid down from the bench, startling Shane. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Just, uh, gotta do something. See you at lunch, guys." The three of them watched her leave, confused, but didn't follow after her. She felt tears prick at her eyes as she burst through the door to her cabin, sitting on her bed and burying her face in her hands, crushed.

Mitchie couldn't do it. As much as she wanted to be part of that, she couldn't. If she got in too deep, people would want to spend more time with her, and if they spent more time with her, the harder it would be to hide her little feminine quirks from them. It was already going to be difficult enough to hide them from Shane, and it had only been one night so far. What would happen in the next week? Month? There was no way she could pull it off with them unintentionally watching her every move.

The solution was simple: do not get close to people. It put her chance of staying here in jeopardy. And she was here for the _music_, not for friends, not for fun.

She glanced over to the bed and belongings to her right, wiping her face off on her sleeve. The messy bed and the black electric guitar sitting on the stand beside her green one all reminders of who else shared this cabin. She shook her head and stood up, walking to leave for lunch.

And definitely not for Shane Gray.

"Hey, Mitchie!" Her heart stopped in her chest as she turned around, fear in her eyes. Jason was waving to her, and she was so surprised that she couldn't even move. "There you are. Lunch time! Let's eat!'

She asked, trying to play it calm, "What did you call me?"

"Mitchie?" he asked, his head tilted.

"Why?"

He leaned down to look her in the face. "Just a nickname, but if you don't like it--"

"I _don't_ like it, actually," she snapped, making Jason recoil as she stalked away, irritated. He had freaked her out for no reason, and she was angry. As she walked though, she began to feel guilty for taking her insecurities out on Jason and she turned around to see him following behind her, staring at the ground without saying a word. The guilt practically eating at her heart now, she said quietly, "Hey, Jase?"

He paused in his step, looking at her with round hazel eyes. "Yeah?"

She kicked the toe of her shoe into the dirt and frowned. "Sorry."

He blinked and smiled at her, hugging her around the middle. "I don't mind! Nate is a lot meaner than you are, maybe you should take lessons!"

She rolled her eyes and cocked an eyebrow. "Let's just go eat, okay?" He nodded and the two of them walked towards the mess hall side by side.

"Are you _sure_ I can't call you Mitchie?"

"_Yes_."

**AN** Now for those of you waiting for the girls and also waiting for Mitchie to be discovered, not the next chapter, but the chapter after will fill all your needs! I promise!

Love

Bumble Bee


	6. 5: Love at First Fight?

Chapter 5: Love At First... Fight?

"Hey, Mitch, Jason over here!" Mitchie walked into the mess hall with Jason, the extrovert chatting it up with her, though she understood and commented to very few things he said. She caught Shane's eye and her earlier resolve came back to her, making her walk slower as Jason took his customary seat across the table from Shane and Nate. Looking away from their table, she continued on to an empty one, her head throbbing from crying so much. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw them glance to each other in puzzlement.

"What's up with him?" she heard Shane ask of Jason, who shrugged. She kept her eyes on the tablecloth, picking out random designs in the cloth to avoid looking at who were supposed to be her friends.

Jason suggested, "Maybe he's sick of us already!"

Nate sighed. "I'm not even going to bother."

"With what?" Mitchie closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the table, somehow very exhausted. She didn't know where this came from, or why it was happening, but it seemed to her that all the deceiving was simply taking it out of her. She didn't think this through enough, maybe. There was still time to get out of camp, to go back home and tell her mother everything before she got in too deep here.

Perhaps she could just endure Camp Pop, even though this Tess Tyler girl seemed to be the biggest...

"What's up Mitch?" Shane Gray sat next to her, his brow furrowed and his brown eyes met hers, making her turn away shamefully.

She responded softly, "Nothing, Shane, really."

He rolled his eyes, and cocked an eye brow. "You're a really bad liar." She held back a snort and turned away from him, staring out the window and letting her hair fall over one of her eyes. Oh, man, he didn't even know that half of it, it was so ironic. She rolled her eyes and stood up from the table, walking away from him. She didn't have time for this. It was all about the music now.

However, even then the music seemed to be evading her. With an hour and a half before hip hop dance class, Mitchie decided to walk to the cabin she (unfortunately?) shared with Shane and write the next part to a song she had started before school got out. She was stuck, though. Something was different about the atmosphere around her, and she just couldn't seem to concentrate, find any inspiration anywhere.

It was simply frustrating.

The chords wouldn't come, the progressions flowing from her fingertips all wrong. And the words she had just written sounded terrible altogether. The first lines of the second verse were good, _Do you know what it's like to feel so in the dark? To dream about a life where you're the shining star?_ It was all she could get out of herself before writers' took hold. It just wasn't fair. Just as she had broken off all ties from them, she couldn't get her mind off of them.

Shane, Nate, and Jason had been so nice to her when she came here, and now she was just blowing them off. Guilt ate at Mitchie's heart, and she felt like a terrible person. It was totally rude and uncalled for, when they were just trying to be her friends. She sighed put her guitar on the stand, resting her head in her hands and leaning forward on the bed. What to do... what to do...

"You know," she heard Shane say, the cabin door opening behind her. "It wasn't really nice of you to ditch us like that, Mitch. What's your problem man?" He sounded like he was trying to be nice, and she sighed, looking up at him and trying to hide her guilt.

"Listen," she said smoothly, attempting to make this as easy as possible for her to say. "You guys are really nice, and you seem pretty cool, but I'm not here to make friends." _Or get crushes on really hot guys_, she couldn't help but think to herself, her eyes tracing the contours of Shane's face. "I'm here for the music."

Shane let out a cackle of laughter. "Mitch, the music is just half of the experience," he told her, running a hand through his hair. "You won't get any inspiration, won't have any fun if you concentrate only on the music and nothing else! Seriously, you're gonna hate camp if that's all you're worried about." Mitchie looked at her hands, biting her lip and trying to think of a counterargument. When nothing came, she smiled slightly at Shane.

"I guess you're right," she admitted, scratching the back of her head as she thought of her song. "I just want to concentrate on my music, and write amazing songs! But... I don't know, it seems like the inspiration just won't come for me." Shane smiled at her, a crooked half smile that made butterflies pop into her stomach.

He suggested, "Well let's go see if we can't fix that, huh?" He motioned for her to follow him and she did, confused as he pushed his way through the cabin door. She trailed after him quietly as he led her down the short distance to the dock, where the canoes were sitting out for recreational use. "I always come out to the lake," Shane started, flipping one over and handing her a life jacket from inside. She put it on and helped him push the small boat, "when I'm having writer's block. I don't know what it is, but it just seems to help me a lot with my music."

Mitchie teased, "Oh? Does your voice sound better over here?" He laughed and the two of them hopped in, grabbing the oars and rowing out into the lake. The water sparkled like crystal with the sun hitting it just right, and Mitchie smiled into the cool breeze that smelled like trees and fresh air. The canoe came to a lazy stop, and she closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the wildlife around her and the lapping of the waves against the boat. "This is actually pretty soothing," she admitted, give Shane a smile.

He nodded smugly. "I'm always right!"

She cocked an eyebrow, "You are a jerk, aren't you?"

Looking offended, he crossed his arms and huffed, "Well, excuse me for stating the obvious." She snorted once, before the thought of it sent her into loud peals of laughter, and his expression turned even more disgruntled. He snapped, "I'd rather be a jerk than laugh like a little school girl."

Her chuckles were caught short. It was too easy to be herself around him, much, much too easy. She was Mitchie when she was near Shane, when she talked to him and teased him and everything. Mitch didn't exist in the world that only held herself and Shane. "You're a _really_ big jerk!" she said angrily, trying to hide her discomfort at her assessment of her laugh.

"Hey, when you start to talk like that, I'm going to play hardball," he grumbled, looking for a moment like a small child that was denied access to the cookie jar. The image of Shane trying to sneak into a cookie jar sent her over the edge and into a fit of giggles again, and this time, instead of saying anything about her laughter, he looked curious. "What's so funny?" he inquired.

"Nothing," she answered in between her cackles, making him start to laugh with her despite his irritation that she wouldn't tell him what was so funny. She smiled and then said softly, "_Even though it seems like it's too far away I have to believe in myself it's the only way_."

"Hm?" he asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

She grinned. "Just the next part of my song, Mr. Gray."

"Well, Mr. Torres, I'm glad I could help," he replied cheerfully, socking her in the arm. As with the time yesterday, she could feel her shoulder ache with the impact of his hand, even though it probably was nothing to him. "Let's go back to shore then, we don't want to be late for dance, now do we?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, yes, let's not be late getting to class where we can be pretty little dancers."

Shane laughed loudly.

--

Shane and Mitchie piled through the door, almost getting stuck in the frame in the hurry to not be late for class. As they stumbled in, a few of the other campers laughed. The instructor looked a little less amused as they sat down with everyone else, looking eager and ready to learn to hip hop dance.

The instructor was a petite man, even shorter than Mitchie, but he was slim and lithe and fit. "Stand up," he ordered in irritation. Mitchie looked taken aback as she used Shane as a crutch to pull herself up.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," she breathed to him. Shane rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement.

"My name is Leslie," he announced sternly, as if he was daring anyone to laugh. Mitchie felt like she wanted to, but chose not to. He cracked his knuckles and a few people flinched at the sound, including her. "I'm going to pair you kids up, and you're gonna learn how to dance." Mitchie paled. _Oh, shit. Ohshitohshitohshitohshit._ She couldn't be paired with somebody. If she got even a little bit close to someone, if they touched her, they would know. They would instantly find out. There had to be someway she could opt out of the partner bit, pretend to hurt her ankle, _something._

Leslie went around putting boys in pairs, counting them off one by one. They looked awkwardly at each other, wondering what the hell this crazy man was going to make them do. "Gray, my returnee. Pick a newbie, help them out." Shane gave Mitchie a smile, and she smiled back weakly, terrified. Why did everything have to go wrong? It was only her first day dammit! A CD started to be played, and, Mitchie, in spite of the circumstances, couldn't help but giggle inside at the little man named Leslie that was their dance instructor. He turned to face the class.

"You don't even have to touch your partner," he drawled at the boys that inched a little bit away from each other, trying to avoid the uncomfortable situation they had placed themselves in. "Now, little girls, follow my lead." And so the dance class began. It wasn't nearly as bad as Mitchie thought it was going to be. Even being in close proximity with Shane was proving nicer than she thought.

Leslie went between the groups, obsessively fixing posture and stances. Shane whispered instructions to her every time the man walked by so he wouldn't get angry with her. "Come on!" he barked, and made Mitchie jump, startled by his sudden command. Her foot got caught on Shane's, and she grabbed his shoulder to keep herself from falling over. All that did though, was bring him down with her.

The breath was knocked out of her as she fell hard on her back, her eyes squeezed shut and her head throbbing. "Ow," she muttered, peeking her eyes open to see what the damage was. The first thing she saw was the beautiful brown eyes of Shane Gray looking into her own. She blinked, startled, as he leaned over her, his expression just as confused as hers. Someone coughed and he moved himself away from her quickly, grabbing her hand and hoisting her up.

"Be more careful," Leslie grumbled, looking at the clock. "We'll practice this more next time, get out of my classroom." No one needed a second order, everyone stumbling out quickly to get away from the miniature psychopath.

Shane asked her as they walked back towards the cabin, "You okay? You seemed like you hit your head pretty hard."

She chuckled. "I'm totally fine, thanks." He nodded slowly as they entered, two very familiar voices sounding in their ears.

"How am _I_ supposed to know where they are?" Nate asked incredulously, his arms crossed as he glared at Jason who was looking out the window opposite the door.

"You always say you're the smart one," he reasoned, looking at his curly haired companion.

"I am, Jason, but I'm not psychic."

"You're mean enough to be."

"That's _psycho_ not _psychic_."

"Are you sure?"

Shane and Mitchie burst into laughter at the same time, gripping the door frame for support as they buried their faces in their hands. Both of their friends glanced to them surprised. "I didn't hear you guys come in," Nate said with a grimace, turning away from Jason in his irritation. "Are you ready to start preparing for Campfire Jam, guys?"

"Already?" Shane asked, surprised. "We've got like two weeks, Nate."

Mitchie said, "Well, we gotta beat that Tess girl, don't we?"

Jason and Nate nodded in unison. Shane sighed and grumbled, "Fine. _Play My Music_?"

"Huh?" Mitchie asked, making the three of them smile.

"You get to learn a new song, Mitch," Nate told her. She frowned. "What? Were you planning on going solo?"

They all looked at her expectedly. She thought on that for a moment, her eyes staring at the post of her bed. It would be better, maybe, if she worked with them, only for the fact that her voice would be masked by theirs. She shook her head and smiled, "Nah, I'm with you."

Shane grinned. "Awesome."


	7. 6: Campfire Jam

Chapter 6: Campfire Jam

Mitchie, Shane, Jason, and Nate were ready a fortnight later for Campfire Jam against the girls of Camp Pop. Mitchie had been practicing almost nonstop for the past fourteen days, Jason and Nate helping her with the guitar chords and riffs and Jason writing up a new background vocal part for her higher voice. At night, the two of them would walk over to each other's cabins and practice together.

And Mitchie felt good. Even though she didn't want to get close to people, this was actually a lot of fun for her. The song was great, the three of them were musical geniuses to have written it, and she felt like she, for the very first time, actually belonged somewhere. Back home, she had one friend: Sierra. Everything she did was with Sierra, no one else. No one wanted to be friends with her, and it's not like she cared really, because she never sought anyone out. But here, among the three boys she had become very close with for her first two weeks at Camp Rock, were better friends with her than anyone had ever been in her life.

Jason was a little weird, kind of scatterbrained, but he was sweet and funny, always saying the wrong thing at the right time and making everybody laugh. On the other hand, Nate was just... well, he was Nate. He was quiet most of the time, keeping to himself save when bickering with his best friend and cabin mate. Sure, they fought, but that was just because they were so different, in almost every way imaginable. Despite that, though, Jason and Nate were such a tight unit, such good friends that Mitchie was almost jealous of them.

She turned her head as they ate breakfast, looking at the concentrated face of Shane Gray as he looked over the sheet music for their song _Play My Music_, his breakfast finished. Shane was another story entirely. There was just this vibe that emanated from him, this hardworking, dedicated, passionate vibe that made Mitchie feel so in tune with him. Because he loved the music just as much as she did, and wanted to make music just as badly as her. More than anyone else, she could relate to him. She knew exactly what he was all about, it made her feel really at home.

She smiled and looked away from her friend, poking at her omelet with her fork and contemplating. Campfire Jam was later that night, and she was really interested in meeting the girls from Camp Pop. From what the other boys had been saying, they were all gorgeous, talented, and could be a little scary when they got competitive. That thought made Mitchie laugh and remember what the popular girls had been like at her school.

"Hey, Mich," Shane said, something catching his breath. "Look." She glanced to where he was looking, and saw a fancy looking bus pull up in front of the stage by the lake. She furrowed her brow and turned all the way around, catching the attention of some of the other boys who also turned to look. The door of the vehicle swung open, and the first person who walked out, her gait haughty, was looking around as if she was bored. She had shiny blonde hair and wore a light blue blouse with white pants and gold boots. "Tess."

She watched Shane for a moment as his expression turned slightly uncomfortable. He listed off the rest of the girls as they stepped off the bus, and Mitchie made a mental note of their names. "Caitlyn, Peggy, and Ella, Tess's posse. Lola, Kara, and Lily..." As he listed off the rest of the girls, she slumped in her seat, feeling slightly sick. She didn't know why, but just the sight of seeing the Camp Pop girls sent her almost over the edge.

That could have been her. Falling into a clique, worrying only about the rather expensive looking outfits and jewelry that they wore, primping herself and making herself look fabulous as they did. It seemed to reinforce her relief that she had decided to come here instead of go there.

She heard Nate scoff under his breath, "Girls won't know what hit them."

Mitchie laughed as she stood up, the rest of her table following suit, and made her way back to the cabin she shared with Shane. A huge bonfire was being built by the stage near the lake, and all the sound systems and microphones were being set up around it to make sure everything was ready for the Campfire Jam being held later that night. As the four of them entered the cabin, Shane seemed even more uncomfortable than he had at the table, and Mitchie furrowed her brow.

"What wrong?" she asked sitting across from him and crossing her legs.

He grunted and Nate rolled his eyes, mentioning, "Let's just say seeing Tess Tyler brought back some painful memories."

"Huh?'

Jason piped up, "Tess is Shane's ex-girlfriend!" Mitchie looked shocked, staring at Shane as he slumped further down into his bed, his face crimson. Jason looked merely spaced out, a large smile still on his face, and Nate looked irritated, like the very face that Shane dated Tess put him in a bad mood.

"Seriously?" Mitchie gasped, staring at Shane. He nodded once, glaring at Jason who was still oblivious to pretty much everything going on around him. There was an awkward silence that followed, making Nate, Shane, and Mitchie look at each other for a moment before turning away to look at something else. "How did that go?" she asked, still not looking at him.

Shane's eyes narrowed and Nate sighed. "Let's just say it didn't and leave it at that, okay?" She was slightly taken aback at Nate's callousness and the older boy's aloofness about the subject, but didn't press the matter. Being new, she really didn't have a right to be asking this of them anyway. More silence pervaded the room, when suddenly Jason yelped like a wounded dog.

They all looked over at him, shocked, as he stared at the window. Concerned, they followed his line of sight until they saw a beautiful young Hispanic girl standing down by the canoes, waving to people that they couldn't see. She had long, pitch black hair and brown eyes in a pale, heart shaped face. "Who's that?" Nate asked.

"Ella," Mitchie recalled from Shane's list of people he named.

Jason grinned. "Yes she is!" he said loudly, making them all jump in surprise. Shane rolled his eyes and rested his hands in his chin, looking nervously at the group that passed by, which included his ex-girlfriend. Mitchie still had trouble believing such a thing, as cool and sweet and awesome as Shane was and as obnoxious and rude and self absorbed as Tess sounded.

"C'mon," Nate grumbled, pulling both Jason and Shane out of their little bubbles. "Let's get practicing, we don't want to lose."

--

It was getting dark outside, and the bonfire could be seen from even the most distant cabin. It was huge, the biggest fire Mitchie had ever seen in her life. She stood by with Shane and Nate and Jason, who were all geared up and ready to go. They were the last act of the night, which might have had something to do with Brown's bias for Shane, but Mitchie wasn't really going to think to far into it. The outfits were not even really costumes. Just things they would normally wear anyway. Tight shirts, tight jeans, that sort of thing.

Each had their own style, of course. Jason had a scarf around his neck and a pair of boots on under his pants. Nate wore a plaid shirt and high top Converse, his curls as unruly as usual. Though Shane... Mitchie could barely keep her eyes off of him. He was in a pair of extremely tight, form fitting purple pants that belonged in the eighties, a white dress shirt and purple tie, with black sneakers. She swallowed and looked away.

She wore a pair of leather pants, gray sneakers and a tight tee shirt, a headband around her forehead as she looked around the people. A lot of campers and instructors were there, and she was nervous. She hadn't performed in front of an audience this large before, with this few people up on stage with her. "Don't bite your lip off," she heard Shane say lightheartedly. Mitchie shot him a tentative glance before looking back out at all the people. "You're not that nervous are you?"

He had been in a much better mood when it got closer to performance time, and for that they were all grateful. "A little bit," she admitted, clutching her Les Paul to her chest.

"It's okay to be a little nervous," he said sagely, pulling something out of her hair. It took all of her being not to faint right then as his hands brushed her locks. _It's not fair_, she thought in defeat as Brown and Dee both stepped up on the stage, carrying microphones and waving to the students shouting their appreciation. Shane turned away from her as they begin to speak.

Brown started, "Welcome, the fabulous ladies of Camp Pop and my amazing students at Camp Rock!"

"We're glad to be here," Dee added, elbowing Brown in the ribs. "We're here tonight for the Campfire Jam!" More screaming ensued and they chuckled at the annoyed look on Brown's face as he regained his composure from being bumped away by the administrator of the girls' camp.

"This is the first Jam of the year, and we're here to start getting use to being on stage, if you've never been before," he said, deliberately ignoring her motions that she wanted to say something. "So, starting off the night..." The acts went quickly. As expected, there were all really good, having prepared for this over the past couple of weeks to represent their camp. Familiar faces went up as the girls screamed for their friends and the boys for their own.

Finally, as it neared the end, Dee la Duke took the stage, announcing, "And now for Camp Pop's final act, the amazing, the incredible, and the fabulous, give a cheer for _The It Girls_!" The girls went wild with their support as Shane grimaced, making Mitchie want to hold in tightly to make any hurt go away. She suppressed the motion, feeling incredibly stupid.

Sparkly outfits took the stage and Mitchie could barely find the people inside of them they were so blinding in the firelight. She saw Tess front and center with her friends, Peggy, Ella, Caitlyn, by a microphone in the back, done up and smiling brightly. A techno sounding beat started out the song as the girl began to sing.

"_I'm too cool for my dress, these shades don't leave my head. Everything you say is so irrelevant. You follow and I lead, you wanna be like me, but you're just a wannabe. Love it or hate it._" Mitchie's first impression was that she was really, really good. She had an amazing voice, excellent stage presence, and flawless choreography. That was a strictly objective view, despite her dislike for Tess which, though she would never admit it openly, was tied to whatever she had done to Shane.

The rest of the song was the same as the beginning, and Mitchie thought it was good, but shockingly superficial. She clapped along with the audience as the four girls left the stage, and they all hurried up to the stage as Brown picked up his microphone, calling for silence. He cleared his throat, and said, "For the group that needs no introduction, I present to you, Shane Gray, Nate White, Jason Black, and Mitch Torres!"

Her heart was pounding as she followed the three boys onto the stage, the roar of the boys making them all grin. "Ready?" Shane asked, more for her than anything. She nodded and he grinned, pulling the stand into both his hands as Jason began to play the opening riffs. Nate sang, "Music."

"_Turn on that radio as loud as it can go. I wanna dance until my feet can't feel the ground. Say goodbye to all my fears, one good song they disappear and nothing in the world can bring you down._" Mitchie strummed on her guitar, walking up to her mic as Nate licked his lips.

He began_, "Hands clapping, hips shaking, heart breaking, there's no faking what you feel when you're right at home, yeah!_" The four of them sang in the chorus, Shane and Nate switching off lead as Jason and Mitchie shared background vocals. Everyone was moving along to the beat, yelling and shouting as the song continued. Mitchie would hardly believe that she was doing this, doing it _well_ even as all those people watched her.

She grinned at Jason as they stood back to back, playing during Nate's solo part and Shane clapping his hands along with the audience. It was exhilarating, amazing, and Mitchie couldn't stop smiling. "_I just want to play my music all night long!_" Shane belted out a rock star scream and Mitchie stared at him in astonishment. He shrugged and she grinned, the four of them grabbing each other's hands and bowing to the audience as they cheered.

The four of the exited the stage to screaming and applause, giving each other high fives as they trotted down the stairs excitedly, placing their guitars in the cases that had been set aside. But they were suddenly cut short in their congratulations as a very familiar voice met their ears. "Nicely done, as usual, Shane." He flinched slightly as he examined the girl before him. Mitchie felt a pang of jealous eat at her, hearing the flirtatious tone in Tess's voice. Apparently Shane heard it too, and Mitchie could see the anger and frustration and hurt reflect in his eyes as he regarded her. The blonde's eyes drifted from the singer's face to Mitchie's, missing his reaction, and Mitchie shifted back, slightly surprised.

"Hi," the singer greeted Mitchie, shaking her hand and flipping a strand of perfect hair of her bright blue eyes. "I'm Tess Tyler, over at Camp Pop. And you are...?"

When she didn't respond, Shane nudged Mitchie, snapping her out of her funk. She stammered, still unable to believe she was meeting TJ Tyler's daughter, "I... I'm Mitch. Mitch Torres." Peggy DuPree, Ella Lee, and Caitlyn Geller shook hands with her after Tess did, although Mitchie noticed uncomfortably that Tess kept staring at her, in a weird girly kind of way. Though the jealousy over her previous relationship with Shane quickly subsided as Tess stopping flirting with him.

While they all interacted, Caitlyn Geller kept her eyes on Mitchie as well. But the suspicious glint in them made Mitchie realize that it wasn't because she was attracted to 'Mitch.' Finally, after an hour of standing awkwardly at Shane's side with Caitlyn staring and Tess flirting, the former of the two questioned, "Hey, Mitch? Can I talk to you?" Tess snapped her head to look at Caitlyn and glared daggers at her. Caitlyn returned the look with equal animosity, dragging Mitchie aside and away from the rest of the group.

"Yeah?" she asked uncomfortably, pulling her arm out of Caitlyn's grip and furrowing her brow when they were a sufficient distance away from the others.

She hissed, "Are you out of your mind?" Slightly taken aback, Mitchie opened her mouth to respond but the Camp Pop girl cut her off, putting her hand to her forehead. "You'll be in so much trouble if anyone finds out about this!"

"About what?" Mitchie breathed, her heart plummeting.

"Don't play games. You know and I know that you're really a girl."

**AN** DON'T GET MAD AT ME PLEASE.

Guh. I promise Shane is going to find out. I PROMISE. But one more person is going to find out before Shane does, so keep a look out for that.


	8. 7: Out of the Bag

Chapter 7: Out of the Bag

Mitchie stared at Caitlyn in shock and silence, confused and dazed and relieved all at the same time. She sank to her knees and leaned back onto her butt, making Caitlyn raise both her eye brows in surprise. And suddenly, Mitchie began to laugh. Hard. Tears poured down her cheeks as she buried her face in her hands, maniacal giggled escaping her lips. "Is something funny?" Caitlyn demanded.

"A little bit," Mitchie admitted, standing up and dusting the back of her white pants off, wiping the treas of mirth from her face. "You found out right away, and not a single one of the boys even have a clue."

Caitlin huffed, "Girls are smarter."

"Agreed." They stared at each other for a moment, assessing. Mitchie finally asked, "How did you know?"

The smaller girl shrugged. "I could just tell. The way you moved and the way you spoke. Spending two summers in a row with only girls, I picked up on that kind of thing."

Mitchie shook her head. "Then wouldn't Tess, Peggy and Ella notice too?"

She chuckled. "I doubt it. They may be beautiful, but that doesn't mean they're smart too." Mitchie nodded slowly as she stared off into the distance. For some reason, being discovered didn't make her feel nearly as anxious as she thought it would have. In fact, she seemed so relieved that she might start to cry. Like some huge weight had been pulled off of her chest.

"What's going to happen now?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Caitlyn looked surprised at first, and she sized Mitchie up again, contemplating on that question. She tapped her chin for a moment, looking up at the night sky, filled with stars. A breeze blew their clothes and hair very slightly, and Mitchie was about to say something after almost five minutes of Caitlyn thinking before she spoke again.

"Tell me why."

Mitchie blinked and looked at the ground. She began to talk. Caitlyn nodded in places, knowing that Mitchie was glossing over a few details but not forcing her to say anything that she didn't want to go into depth with. There wasn't much, really. It was mainly about how she felt for Shane, and nothing else. All the other facts and the happenings and her feelings were relayed to Caitlyn who, Mitchie found, was a very patient and good listener. "And then you found out," she sighed, the two of them sitting on the ground.

"I see," she said softly. "So you just didn't want to end up like Tess."

She murmured, "In an indirect way, exactly." Caitlyn nodded her understanding.

"Well," she commented, puling herself off the grass and stretching her arms. "That took longer than I thought it would. Come on, let's get back to them, they'll be wondering where we are."

Mitchie frowned. "Huh?"

"Come on, Mitch. Tess will probably by furious, thinking I'm off making out with you somewhere. She's already almost impossible to live with as it is." She pulled Mitchie to her feet and beckoned her to return back to the others. It seemed almost as if... Caitlyn wasn't going to say anything about what she had found out. Unless Mitchie was just hoping, and trying to believe that maybe some girl she had never even met before was going to keep her secret.

Eventually the girls had to go back to their own camp. Tess blew her a kiss goodbye and she grimaced, but Caitlyn's reassuring smile made her feel a little bit better as their bus pulled away. She sighed and turned back to a very disgruntled Shane Gray, a slightly spacey Nate White (which surprised her, as he stared after the bus), and a happy Jason Black, who looked like he was about to explode because of the extended silence. "So," Mitchie mentioned, scratching her arm absently, trying to break the silence, "we going to bed guys?" Nate nodded in agreement as he followed Jason back to their own cabin.

Mitchie tapped a pondering Shane on the shoulder, shaking him from his reverie, and smiled at him. "Bedtime, superstar," she said playfully, pushing him along. He chuckled and followed her along, chatting softly about their day, though Mitchie politely avoided any conversation that might lead to the uncomfortable subject that was Tess Tyler.

--

The next day, Shane, Mitchie, Jason and Nate congregated with the rest of the campers of Camp Rock in the breakfast hall, eagerly awaiting the results of judging of both camps attempts to outdo the other. "All right, boys!" Brown said as he walked in, waving an envelope. Silence pervaded the room, and Brown stopped at the front by the fireplace. "I have here, the results of yesterday's Jam! May I have a drum roll please?"

Andy began to tap on the table as their counselor opened the envelope, and stopped as the paper was out. "We won!" he announced, and the roar of the crowd was almost deafening to Mitchie's ears. He continued, "Shane's group, and Baron's group brought up the points a lot. We're almost forty points ahead of those girls." If possible, the shouts grew louder as the two groups mentioned were mauled by the rest of the campers. Mitchie found herself shaking hands and exchanging hugs with boys she had yet to speak with, and her stay in the camp was already a third over.

Brown posted the official scoring up on the board, and as the general population ran to look at the points their group received, Shane pulled the other three into a hug. "Good job, guys!" he shouted above the din of their friends, making the three of them laugh in excitement.

Mitchie was so... proud. So proud of what she was able to accomplish with these three boys... her friends. She didn't mind calling them that now, she didn't mind that she was getting so close to Shane and Nathan and Jason, she didn't mind anymore. For some reason, having Caitlyn Geller know her secret made her feel unrestricted in her actions with them. She wasn't concerned about being their friend, and it made her feel so free inside. Happy.

"Mitch, ready for class?" She glanced up to see Shane smiling at her, and the familiar butterflies erupted into her stomach and her mind to fall blissfully blank just looking into his eyes. Unable to trust her voice, she nodded in agreement and followed him out of the mess hall. This was okay. Maybe she would never be able to date Shane Gray, but this... this was all she needed. Just to laugh and play music with him, what else was there?

Today she found herself even more immersed in Shane than usual. When Brown called on her to sing, she didn't care. She dragged Shane up with her and they sang a duet that she had written called _Shadow_, making Brown congratulate them both on a job well done. And after lunch, when Leslie paired them up to dance, she didn't dread it, she was excited for it. Just being that close, that intimate to Shane was the best part of her day.

And it seemed almost perfect, that day. From breakfast until dinner, everything seemed like nothing was wrong.

Mitchie stepped out of the shower and wrapped her chest up, putting on her pajamas and gathering up her dirty clothes and her towel. She tucked her feet into her sneakers and trailed back to her cabin aimlessly, still euphoric from the way the day went for her, as she passed Jason and Nate's cabin. However, her name was said inside, and she paused outside the window, looking in.

She heard Shane hiss to Nate, "I don't know what to do about him! He's just so... I don't know. I'm starting to _like_ him, almost, and I know I'm not gay."

Nate burst out in peals of laughter. "Shane, seriously, Mitch? He's so... girlie, you know? That might be why. Maybe _he's_ gay." Shane furrowed his brow and Mitchie blushed red to the roots of heir hair. Shane liked her? Really? Her heart started to pound in her chest, as she swallowed, trying to breathe properly again.

"Maybe," he said distractedly, shaking his head.

No. He doesn't like her. Mitchie leaned against the cabin and bit her lip. She needs to stop trying to get her hopes up, because he thinks she's a boy and would never, ever have anything to do with her. She sighed and walked back to their cabin, the excitement of the day wearing off slightly as she slumped on the bed, staring at the wall.

Shane walked in a few minutes later and saw that she was in a state, but didn't say anything to her. He looked tired and changed into his pajamas, and she noticed that for the first time he inched a little out of her line of sight, as if he didn't want her to see. She almost snorted, remembering that he thought she was gay boy. She stood up and pulled back the covers of her bed, her head starting to throb painfully as she lay down on the pillow. She was suddenly very tired and her chest ached, like her heart had just been broken.

But that was because she finally realized that she could never, ever have Shane Gray.

**AN** Sorry for the short chapter! But I didn't know what else to have here, but don't worry! The next chapter is going to be totally awkward for Mitchie, hilarious for Caitlyn, painful for Shane, confusing for Nate, and oblivious for Jason!

Let's go!


	9. 8: Flirting 101

**AN**: I would like to thank everyone so much for all the reviews I've been getting for this story. Seriously, I've never gotten this many in my life, and you can tell I've been on Fanfiction for a really long time. So thank you very, very, very much.

I would also like to thank joejonasplease for the nomination for the Underdog Awards for "Most Unique Storyline." I freaked out when I read that, so thank you so much.

This chapter is longer because of how short the chapter was last time. I hope you enjoy it and thank you once again.

Also, this chapter is dedicated to Pagan-Angel13 for leaving me such comprehensive reviews. Really, thank you so much. A second dedication goes to Mystical-Dreamer57 because she has reviewed all of my Camp Rock stories as well as this one, and I feel so loved :)

See you at the bottom!

Chapter 8: Flirting 101

A month passed and though Caitlyn knew her secret, she didn't say a word. It made Mitchie happy to know that she could count on someone almost as much as she could count on Shane Gray. All their efforts were being put into the next performance at the Waterfall Jam that was to be held at Camp Pop this time. "_On the Line_ sounds the best so far," Nate commented, resting his chin in his hand as Jason continued to strum the chords for the chorus. "You and Mitch harmonize really well, Shane."

He nodded and regarded Mitchie with a slightly different expression than he usually did, and she didn't miss it. This had been happening since his conversation with Nate, and frankly, it was irritating her. Whenever they started to get back to normal, when they started to have fun again, he would get that strange expression again, and it would get awkward. Just because he thought that 'Mitch' had some huge crush on him or something. Mitchie thought angrily to herself, _Maybe if _Mitchie_ wasn't so freakin' obvious..._

"Is that what we're doing then?" she asked them, and Shane nodded, avoiding her eyes. She resisted the urge to smack him across the face and stop being foolish, instead looking over at Jason, who was watching her. She smiled at him slightly, trying to figure out what he was doing. He grinned at her, and she waited for him to say whatever was on his mind. With Jason, it was probably really, really weird.

He said in a sing-song voice, pointing at her, "Mitch! Tess Tyler likes you, I think."

"Ew, what?" she asked, bemused by his sudden outburst. Nate and Shane both looked appalled. "I would never date Tess Tyler. She's so obnoxious and just..." Mitchie shook her head and glared out the window, feeling frustrated. She had been dealing with a half healed heart for two months now, and she was so unhappy she might just scream. The only thing that made even a notion of sense to her anymore was when she saw Shane Gray and her heart felt a little bit better. But now this, now that he was wary of her, every single notion that made her days here at Camp Rock had been dashed against the ground.

"So, we're ready for Waterfall Jam?" Shane asked quietly, trying to break the silence between them. It was getting a little awkward anyway, and he was still avoiding looking at Mitchie. She felt hurt. Was he so narrow minded that even if she _was_ a gay boy he wouldn't like her? He didn't strike her like that sort, but maybe he was just uncomfortable. Or maybe he just didn't want her to think that he liked 'Mitch.'

As she was pondering, Jason was watching her, and something in his expression was almost... frustrated. "I think so," Nate replied, brushing his hand through his curls and putting his guitar on the stand.

--

The stage was set up and decorated by the girls, and Mitchie had to admit it was amazing. It was painted with shades of blue and purple, the curtains made of gossamer and velor. The campers went again, and Brown and Dee taunted each other on stage as their best performed. Much to Mitchie's surprise, Caitlyn did her act alone, without Tess. She leaned over to Nate and asked, "Why do you think she's going alone?"

He didn't answer, and she went to smack him, thinking he fell asleep. But when she looked at his face, she could tell it was the exact opposite. He was enraptured, staring at her and moving along to her music. Mitchie was stunned, wondering why serious, collected Nate White was so overtly interested in Caitlyn. When she finished, with a higher billing than Tess, which made Mitchie kind of smug, he clapped louder than anyone.

Again, Brown had them go last. There was something about their group that just had everyone excited and pumped for the performance, and unlike the Campfire Jam, this one was during the day. The waterfall at Camp Pop was beautiful, the water falling like liquid crystal into the river below it. Mitchie was enraptured by the beauty of the river, watching it as the other three members of her group worked on the side for the last time, trying to get it down perfectly.

"And now! Give it up for the show stoppers! Shane, Mitch, Jason, and Nate!" There was screaming and excited talking as they took the stage. And now, it was Mitchie's turn to shine. Jason opened up the song on the guitar, and Nate was on the piano to the side, a microphone to his mouth. Mitchie began softly, "_I didn't want to say I was sorry for breaking us apart_."

Shane came in after her, "_I didn't want to say it was my fault even though I knew it was_." It was different from what they usually played, and the audience knew it. But that was because Mitchie had written it herself, so it had a feminine spin on it. But they seemed to get into it regardless, especially the Camp Pop girls, who were dancing in their seats as the song continued through the chorus with Mitch and Shane harmonizing.

"_One in the same, never to change, our love was beautiful. We got it all, destined to fall, our love was tragical. Wanted to call, no need to fight. You know I wouldn't lie. But tonight, we'll leave it on the line._" Nate sang with Mitch next after Jason had opted to avoid singing solo, and the chorus flowed through again.

However, Mitchie's favorite part came up and the music grew softer, Shane taking over the microphone in a way that made her heart flutter in her chest, "_Tried to call again; I get your mailbox like a letter left unread._" She followed up, "_Apologies are often open ended, but this was better left unsaid."_

They finished up the song soon after, to the screaming and applause that made her feel like she belonged more than anything else ever did while with Camp Rock. "That was a great song Mitchie!" Caitlyn gushed, wrapping her in the a tight hug.

"Mitchie?" Shane asked in confusion, glancing between the two of them.

Jason pouted, "You said I couldn't call you that!"

Mitchie glared at Caitlyn, "I don't like that nickname." Caitlyn, for her part, played along relatively well, feeling stupid for almost giving away her secret. She nodded in agreement, as the girls and boys began to congregate around the camp, discussing the Jam. A few people congratulated her and her friends on their song, and she was getting comfortable around them. Until...

"Mitch!" With a sigh, and knowing that it was pretty much inevitable by this point, she turned and saw Tess Tyler waving to her. She let out a tiny sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "Come on a walk with me, okay?" Tess glared at Caitlyn and took Mitchie's hand, dragging her along. Not intimidated, the green eyes girl followed along, Nate following after her. Jason sat down in a corner with Ella, talking with her softly.

Shane, however, was irritated, and looked at everyone with displeasure as Mitchie walked off with _Tess. This has to stop_, Mitchie thought in aggravation, preparing to tell Tess exactly where to go. Just the thought of having anything to do with the blond girl made her stomach churn. She was just the type of girl that she and Sierra would make fun of if she went to her school. They stopped by the river and Tess turned around suddenly, catching Mitchie off guard. Caitlyn stood by, keeping an eye on their interaction.

She said with a smile, "I really like you, Mitch. You're even cuter than Shane Gray." Caitlyn held back a small giggle, making Mitchie glare at her in annoyance. As she opened her mouth to tell the singer off, Tess leaned forward and before Mitchie could do or say anything, she was kissing her.

Mitchie was stunned, shocked, revolted, and appalled all at the same time as she froze on the spot, not knowing how to react. Tess pulled away and gave her a wink, making her stomach heave slightly as she forced a smile on her face. The blonde girl walked back towards Ella and Peggy, both of whom looked incredulous, and Caitlyn couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. Mitchie shook her head and threw herself to the ground, dipping her hand in the river and splashing water against her face, spluttering, "It is not funny, Caitlyn!"

She glanced over at Shane, who was frowning in irritation, and was slightly taken aback. Why was he so mad? Mitchie didn't understand it, why was he so angry? His eyes met hers, and she felt her heart fill with pain at the hurt in his eyes. She could take a intelligent guess perhaps. 'Mitch' was one of his close friends, and if he dated Tess, that was almost like betraying Shane's trust. She broke eye contact with him, ashamed even though she didn't want anything to do with that girl anyway.

Caitlyn friend followed her line of sight and furrowed her brow. "Man, Shane needs to chill," she murmured, rolling her eyes. Mitchie blinked and twisted around to look inquiringly at her. Her hand slid on the damp side of the riverbank, and she fell with an enormous splash into the river.

_The water's freezing_, she thought blankly, shocked. _Why is it so cold? It's summer..._ She couldn't move as she watched the surface grow farther and farther away, her limbs not responding to the cry of her brain to move, move, _move..._

On the riverside, Tess, Ella, Peggy, Caitlyn, Shane, Jason, and Nate were crowded by the edge of the river where she had vanished, looking worried. "Where is he?" Ella asked tearfully, pulling at Jason's arm anxiously.

"Down there," he replied, pointing at the river, and Ella shook her head, looking over at Shane.

"He's not coming back up!" Peggy cried, and Caitlyn had a hand to her mouth, trying to spot Mitchie in the water, but couldn't see her anywhere. Tess said nothing, standing back a little from the group, staring at the river as if it would steal her away too if she stood any closer to it. Nate glanced around at everyone and groaned impatiently, tugging his shoes off one by one.

Shane demanded, "What are you doing Nate?"

"Going after him! Something's wrong! And we can't just stand here!" he hissed back, starting to pull his shirt off. Shane grabbed his hands and shook his head.

"You're not strong enough to carry Mitch yourself. I'll go, but be prepared to help me get him out. You too, Jason." They both nodded as Shane pulled his shirt and pants off, tossing them in a pile next to the river. He dived into the icy water, going after Mitchie and hoping he wasn't too late.

Mitchie was staring dully through the clear blue river, feeling tired. She hadn't tried to kick against the current, hadn't tried to save herself at all. It was strange, almost like a sense of happiness had enveloped her. Like she didn't have to worry about anything anymore. Her eyes closed as she let herself fall under.

**...**

He squinted. There. Shane saw him. He reached out and took Mitch's hand in his, and began to swim as hard as he could, dragging Mitch up with him. It seemed to take forever, with the extra weight of this strange boy dragging him down. Shane kicked harder, trying to get to the top. Almost there, almost there!

He broke the surface, and that breath of air was the sweetest breath he had ever taken in his life. Shane felt Jason and Nate's hands grabbing him and Mitch and lugging them both to the grass. Shane coughed violently and shook out his hair, turning Mitch to lay on his back. Mitch's face was pale, and Shane was shivering.

"He's not breathing," Caitlyn said, shoving Shane aside and tilting Mitch's head back. She began to implement CPR...

**...**

Mitchie felt her lungs move. Though she didn't know how that was to be. Wasn't she dead? Didn't she die? She had been in the water for some time, hadn't she? There it was again. Her lungs working. It wasn't a dream, she didn't imagine it. She felt a set of hands on her face, and she began to feel cold and wet.

Water, again. Drowning, drowning.

The only thing she was drowning in now was darkness. "Mitch!" she heard someone call desperately. "Wake _up_!" It sounded a little like Caitlyn Geller, Caitlyn Geller... Other people began to call her name, a name that wasn't really her name, but close to it. Mitch, Mitch, Mitch, wake up, please!

She wasn't asleep, no. Not asleep. Just cold and shivering and confused and wet and...

"Mitch, don't be dead, come on!" No wait. That wasn't Caitlyn. Not that time. Shane. Shane Gray.

_I love you, _she wanted desperately to say. Because he didn't want her dead, he didn't want her to die. She coughed once and a large deluge of water spewed from her mouth. She coughed again, and again, and people around her began to cry her name again. Mitchie opened her eyes and sat up, looking around in shock.

"Wha...?" she asked hoarsely, her throat stinging. Ella and Peggy were kneeling with Jason, tears coursing silently down their cheeks and the guitarist holding them both to try and make them feel better. Caitlyn was leaning against Nate White, no tears, just worry written in every feature of her face. Tess was unemotional, standing behind them all, watching Mitchie was those icy blue eyes that were as cold as the river. She shivered again and turned away, catching the pale brown eyes of Shane.

He looked relieved and terrified all in the same breath. He was only in his black boxers, kneeling beside her. "Mitch?" he asked quietly, pushing her hair away from her face. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I think so." He had come in after her...?

Caitlyn said firmly, "Mitch, you need to change out of these clothes. Seriously. You're gonna get sick, c'mon." She pulled Mitchie to her feet and half carried her along, motioning for everyone else to wait behind. That struck confusion in everyone's features, and the soaked girl saw a flash of jealousy flicker across Nate's expression. It hit her. With a pang of amusement she realized that he liked Caitlyn, oh he _really _liked Caitlyn, as was obvious now.

Mitchie realized how silly it was to be thinking about that as she had just nearly avoided drowning in the river at Camp Pop. Oh, the irony that was have evoked that only she would have gotten. And the irony of _that _was that she would have been dead.As the two of them walked, she began chuckle. And it escalated into hysterical laughter. Caitlyn grumbled, "You need to stop acting like a maniac every time something happens to you, Mitchie. When I found out about your secret you laughed like mad, too."

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, wiping the water from her face that dripped from her hair. She noticed that Caitlyn had a bag in tow that Mitchie vaguely remembered was hers. She had brought it along just in case something had happened, and lo and behold, something happened. Just her luck, wasn't it?

"Here's some dry clothes," she said wearily, pushing her into a cabin that Mitchie guessed was the one she shared with Tess, Peggy, and Ella. "Change fast. I think Brown is gonna have you shipped back to Camp Rock once word of this gets back to him." Mitchie nodded as Caitlyn went to stand guard outside. She stripped the soaked clothes from her body and dug in her bag, trying to remember what she had packed for herself.

Her mind was reeling. She had almost died. The thought sent a shiver down her back that had nothing to do with the water. She would have died, probably, if Shane hadn't thrown himself in after her. She sighed and sat on the bed that had Caitlyn's name above it. What a day... Waterfall Jam was exciting like everything that had happened at the camp, but there's something about almost drowning that took it out of a person.

And Shane, and Shane... he cared. Despite what he was saying, how he was avoiding her, he really did care. He couldn't _not_, and that was more than she could ever ask for. She smiled softly as she regarded herself in the mirror above the vanity near Tess's bed. Her face was still pale, but her skin was practically glowing, her brown eyes glittering beneath her hair. To her, it was the face of someone desperately in love.

She wasn't going to deny it anymore. Two months with Shane Gray, almost twenty four hours every day, learning about who he was and what made him tick, his little quirks and his likes and dislikes, she felt she knew him inside and out. How could you not fall in love? He was wonderful, amazing, perfect...

Mitchie felt her stomach twist slightly. Maybe she should tell him. Maybe if he let her explain, maybe if he knew exactly why she did it, he might accept it. Maybe they could be together, maybe he would love her. She sat up more and looked at her reflection. She had been so used to seeing herself as a boy, regarding herself as such, that it was difficult to differentiate. But as she looked closer, she could find Mitchie Torres again, and now, as she thought about it, she felt... beautiful.

She smiled and shook her head, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She made up her mind. Shane had to know, and she was going to tell him herself. No more lying, no more holding back how she feels about him. She was tired of hurting inside from a broken heart that had nothing to do with him. It was time to let him know.

"Wait!" she heard Caitlyn call from outside, and Mitchie glanced to the door as it was flung open by someone that was not her friend. It was not Caitlyn standing there, watching them. A pair of brown eyes met hers, ones that were mixed with worry and jealousy that was like fire in them. Her heart stopped.

The boy had finally found her out.

**AN**: Someone else knows! Who do you think it is? Let me know what you think!

And for the few people that have messaged me suggestions, you guys and I are one of the same mind! A lot of the ideas you gave me I had already thought of to use! Thanks for the messages, it's really cool that people are getting so into it that they send me awesome ideas like that.

You rock!

Lots of love,

Bee


	10. 9: A Second Opinion

**AN**: This isn't quite what you guys were waiting for, but I promise you're in for a treat at the end. And for those who guessed Nate, virtual cookies for you!! -hands them out-

Chapter 9: A Second Opinion

"Mitch?" Mitchie froze, the voice so familiar that she wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. Nate White and Caitlyn Geller stood at the door, staring at her. She was only in her bra and underwear, and she knew instantly that she had been found out. She pulled a long shirt on over herself in resignation as Nate glanced away, his face completely blank. The only holder of her secret, however, looked terrified.

She murmured, after she had finished, drying out her hair with a towel and sat down on the bed, "Hi, Nate, Caitlyn."

He entered into the cabin and looked at her, his arms crossed over his chest and Caitlyn followed after him, looking down at the floorboards. "Okay." Nate's voice was harsh, and it made her flinch. "You had better have a good reason for all of this, or you'll find yourself out of camp so fast your hair will grow back out."

"Nate," Caitlyn pleaded, tugging on his arm. He shrugged her off, still glaring at Mitchie.

"Who are you?"

Mitchie felt tears prick at her eyes. She had gotten halfway through the summer with no problems, none at all. A few close calls, but thankfully Shane's inattentiveness or gullibility whatever it might be that kept him from noticing all the little girly things that cropped up once in a while. But this. This was cold hard evidence that Nate had.

She would be kicked out of Camp Rock. Maybe even worse. And her mother would find out everything, about the hair and the clothes and the other things she'd been up to. Mitchie began to feel sick. "Mitchie Torres," she whispered, her stomach filling with the kind of butterflies you got when you were nervous about a court hearing, not when you saw the guy you liked.

Nate demanded, "You sure about that?"

"...yes..."

"You know how much trouble you could get in for being here, Mitch-_ie_?" She flinched again at the emphasis on the second half of her name, not used to hearing it. Her eyes glassed over as she nodded, staring determinedly at the bedsheets and not trusting herself to open her mouth. He knelt down beside her, his eyes narrowed. "Then why the _hell_ are you here?"

Caitlyn piped up, "Because she didn't want to become a pop princess over at Camp Pop! She wanted to get the actual musical experience, you know how Tess has changed it. It's all about the glamor there, here it's all about the music."

For a moment he was silent, before asking, "You knew about this?"

"Yes, I did." They both glared at each other with hard expressions on their faces, neither one budging. From experience, Mitchie knew they were both stubborn and had strong personalities. They were perfect for each other if they got along, but if they didn't, she wouldn't be surprised if a fist fight broke out. Caitlyn could probably beat the pants off of him. "So what? Nathan White, you had better leave Mitchie alone if you know what's good for you."

He grimaced. "Caitlyn, you can't seriously think I'm going to let something like this pass, do you?" Mitchie sat by quietly, finishing getting dressed and flattening out her hair. Her entire future rested in Nate's hands, and she wasn't exactly sure that's where she wanted it to be.

"Like I said, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave her alone," she snapped. "I don't care who you think you are, Nathan, I'll beat you down so fast, you won't even see it coming." He glared at her and she glared back, both stubborn, both not wanting to give in to the other. As for Mitchie, she wasn't sure who was going to win. Finally, after a tense minute, Nate sighed and looked away from her, his cheeks pink.

"Fine, Caitlyn," he muttered, staring angrily at the ground as if he couldn't stand the sight of it. "You win."

She grinned. "Good." But her voice turned soft, and she put a hand on the guitarist's shoulder. "Seriously, Nate, you have no idea how much this means to Mitchie. This is everything for her, and I don't want her experience ruined. So... thank you." She leaned over and kissed him lightly, turning his cheeks an even brighter shade of pink.

"Finally," Mitchie grumbled, startling them both. Two sets of eyes watched her curiously and she rolled her own to the ceiling. "Oh, please. It's so obvious you two like each other. Just start dating already, seriously." Caitlyn now flushed, and avoided looking the curly haired boy in the eyes. She looked irritated with Mitchie, but the brunette could tell that she was honestly considering the prospect inside her head. Nate glanced to her, and she met his gaze.

"Well..." they said at the same time, surprising each other into silence. "I just..." they chorused again, and again they fell quiet.

"Just kiss her," Mitchie complained, resting her throbbing head in her hands.

And Nate did just that.

--

"So, you and Caitlyn," Shane teased him the next day. They were all congregated in Shane and Mitchie's cabin, Mitchie wrapped snugly in blankets due to the cold she had gotten from being in the water, and her three friends were there to keep her company. Well, Nate and Jason were it seemed. Shane, though, hadn't spared her a glance all day, and she was confused.

Nate refused to reply, just giving him a death glare that would have frightened a lesser man. Shane just laughed and Jason looked relatively confused. "I thought you liked Caitlyn," he mentioned, furrowing his brow. "Why are you mad about Shane talking about it?"

"You just don't understand, Jase," he grumbled, looking out the window.

Jason frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"You just don't."

"I think I do." Shane, Mitchie, and Nate all glanced to him, surprised. He'd never asserted anything like that before, or asserted anything before, really. He just took things in stride and let most things fly over his head. The things he didn't he usually had no chance of understanding, or just bickered with Nate about. He insisted, "If you really like someone you shouldn't care what anyone says about you and them. You should be happy."

Shane glanced to Nate and back to Jason, then went to looking at his hands. "Yeah," Mitchie agreed, grabbing Nate's attention. But, once again, Shane seemed to ignore her entirely, like she didn't even exist. She furrowed her brow, hurt, and looked away from the scene, trying to understand why he disregarding her so rudely. She didn't understand what she did wrong, what could possibly have happened. Was it her drowning? Did that stir something in him?

A morbid thought flashed through her mind. Did he, for some unknown reason, regret saving her? She furrowed her brow, sneezing slightly and thanking the 'bless yous' from Jason and Nate. What could it possibly be? It wasn't like Shane to wish someone to die, but she couldn't think of any other explanation.

It had been nearly three days of this nonsense, three days of nothing. She suffered needlessly through dance class as he pretended she was someone else, not even opening his mouth to talk to her or anything. Even the other campers asked what happened, they thought Mitch and Shane were the tightest friends anyone had ever seen. Closer than any body else.

Finally, the night of the third day, Mitchie finally decided to confront him about it. "Shane," she said cordially, walking through the door of the cabin after her shower. He was sitting at his desk, writing something, and still ignoring her. Frustrated, she gripped the back of his chair and spun him around, forcing him to look at her. For the first time, he looked surprised. "Shane! Why are you ignoring me? What the heck did I do to you?" His expression soured, and he turned to face away from her, his face scrunched in anger.

"Why?" he yelled, slamming a fist into his desk and making her jump, shocked. "You're seriously asking me why, Mitch? What do you think?"

"I don't know!" she shrieked, her voice cracking into a new octave. "Maybe... maybe because you wanted me to drown? Maybe because you hate yourself so much for saving my stupid life because you have some ridiculous vendetta against me?" Tears were really dripping down her face now, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she was sobbing like a little girl in a fight with her boyfriend. She didn't care that this was probably going to alert him to what she really was.

She didn't care. All that she cared about was that Shane was treating her unfairly, and she wanted to know why.

Shane grimaced. "Not even close, thought now that might just be added to my list." He glared at her, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. He was glorious, as usual, beautiful, as usual, but his anger twisted his features into such a frightening expression that Mitchie was terrified, stunned speechless. Her vocal chords refused to work and as he made his way towards her slowly, she couldn't even move away. Inches from her face, he growled, "I'm angry because you're a filthy backstabber, Mitch Torres, that's why."

"What?" she whispered, confused.

"Don't you dare play stupid. You kissed Tess Tyler!" Her jaw dropped.

"_WHAT_?!" she repeated, half screaming at the top of her lungs. He took a step back, slightly intimidated by her forceful reaction, but still looked angry, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Her breathing grew labored as her anger increased. Her nails dug into her palms painfully, but she ignored the sensation. She had never been this irrationally mad in her entire life. She should just laugh quietly about it and explain the situation, tell him he got the wrong impression, _calmly_, and then things would go back to normal. That's what the old Mitchie would have done.

The new Mitchie, the less shy, more involved Mitchie, was not going to play it safe and easy. Oh, no. "Are you freakin'_ serious_?" she demanded, one hand pulling at her hair. "You think I actually liked Tess kissing me? You think I got some excitement from kissing that evil witch?" He seemed slightly taken aback, but still firm, standing by his accusation. "She hurt you, and you think I would go so low as to date someone who had treated you like trash?"

"How the hell should I know? I've known you a little less than three months, and that's nothing." She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to believe what she was hearing. This was ridiculous, completely and totally ridiculous. And Shane was overreacting, and making false accusations. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You're not serious."

"Sure I am." He looked away from Mitchie and grabbed clothes from his dresser. He didn't say another word to her as he left the cabin, and as the door slammed shut behind him. Finally, she snapped. She collapsed to the bed and buried herself under the covers, her face in the pillow, and let out a choked sob that was almost a scream.

This was the final straw.

After the stress, after all the pain and the hurt, the pining and aching...

Mitchie was broken.

**AN **Okay lovelies, this, here, is a teaser for the next chapter. I think it's pretty much the one you've ALL been waiting for!!

Mitchie didn't know what possessed her, but she threw her hands around Shane's neck and pressed her lips to his, all the pent up emotion she had been repressing finally letting loose. She loved Shane Gray from the moment she met him, she knew. Loved everything about him. His smile, his hair, his eyes that sparkled intuitively. His kindness and sincerity, his genuine character, everything. There was nothing to be done for living with someone for almost three months and falling in love with them, despite their faults.

Mitchie was in love with Shane. It sounded as natural as Juliet was in love with Romeo, though she hoped this romance ended a little bit better than theirs did.

Okay! Tell me what you think!

(SHAMELESS PLUG: Check out my new story - Oh, Cinderalla!)


	11. 10: Anything For You

**AN**: OMIGOD YOU GUYS!! Just kidding, but uh, I love that musical (if you're lost, it's Legally Blonde: The Musical). Here is the chapter you have ALL been waiting for since you've been reading, right? RIGHT?

-coughcough- Sorry, I'm a little tired. Yesterday was my high school's Homecoming Dance, so I'm so sleepy. And I was pumped because I found out that my dance instructor for musical theater taught Meaghan Jette Martin since she was nine years old. It's a small world, out there, people.

Dedications: To HANYOUSARESEXY. I'm glad I make your Sundays! You make my Sundays by reviewing!! Also to GothicSorceressRikku15, Shizuku Tsukishima749, and megamanacsess for giving me some of the best reviews I've gotten in a long time, and for sticking around this long. Much thanks to everyone else, too, you make me so happy.

I. LOVE. YOU.

Chapter 10: Anything for You

Tess Tyler stared out her window. Something wasn't right, but she didn't know quite what to put her finger on. Why did Shane toss himself in after Mitch? Why couldn't he have let Nate do it? She furrowed her brow, tapping her pencil against her notebook. Ella, Peggy, and Caitlyn were eating dinner, but Tess couldn't get her mind off of Mitch Torres. There was something about him that just struck her wrong, rubbed her in a weird way.

He was the only boy, including Shane Gray, Nate White, and Jason Black, that didn't have a crush on her at some point. Either he was gay or stupid, but to Tess he didn't seem either.

It was more than that though. The way he walked, the way he moved and spoke, it was so... what? That was the thing she couldn't put her finger on. His mannerisms, they weren't manly like most boys she met. They were more... effeminate. That's it. That's what she was looking for. Why was Mitch so girly when he didn't seem gay in the least? Well, he obviously had a crush on Caitlyn, but she was technically a girl, so it didn't count.

What...?

Tess frowned. She needed to know. So she began to write in her notebook everything she had seen or observed about Mitch, along with questions to ask Caitlyn and the others what they knew about him. If worse came to worse, however, she would have to spy on him and see what his secret was. Because there was no way this boy was going to get by unnoticed by Tess Tyler.

--

Nate sighed. He was in his bed, listening to Jason play some song he never heard before in the dead of night as he pretended to sleep. He wasn't too worried about his cabin mate, his mind still on Mitchie and her secret. It had been difficult to act like nothing was different, to treat her like a boy instead of the girl he knew her to be. He had to resist holding open doors for her, resist volunteering to carry something for her, just because it was the gentlemanly thing to do for a _woman_ not for a _man._

If it weren't for Caitlyn, he would have lost his mind trying to keep track of her all the time, and track of himself. Not that he had to make sure she didn't get caught. Mitchie was a pro at concealing her gender, save for her manner of speech sometimes, but that wasn't too hard thanks to Jason's inattentiveness and Shane's uncanny ability to write off things he didn't think could actually happen. But he was worried about her. Ever since the more recent run in with Tess, since the diva had kissed Mitchie, Shane had been ignoring her and encouraging him and Jason to do that same.

Even though Nate declined from doing so, and Jason was too sweet of a person to ignore Mitchie at all, she obviously felt the affects of Shane's ignorance. But as much as he wished he could do something for them, he didn't know what that could be. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

--

Mitchie was a complete wreck.

Shane hadn't spoken to her since the Tess incident, since he had called her out as a backstabber, and she could hardly live day to day knowing that she was going to see him again, soon, and not have anything to do with him. No more chatting or laughing, no more normal living.

Slowly, but surely, Mitchie was dying inside.

Her performance in her classes dropped drastically. She didn't even do anything at all if she could help it. Her instructors noticed this, and when asked, she evaded the question, telling them she still wasn't feeling well from her cold. She was ill, but she didn't have a head cold; she was lovesick. And she couldn't stand to be anywhere close to Shane, not when the pain in her chest intensified so much that she could hardly stand it. She was in physical pain from her aching heart.

Caitlyn guessed what was happening. Mitchie had chosen to sit out Beach Jam at Camp Rock, which had surprised almost everyone but Shane Gray, who seemed like he couldn't care less. And when her best female friend had questioned her about it, she just pointed to the boy she loved, and Caitlyn knew the rest. It was easy to figure out, but she disregarded telling Nate. It wasn't something he needed to know, not just yet, even thought he could tell for the most part that Mitchie was acting different, and Shane wasn't talking to her. He wasn't stupid, and he thought it was stupid that Shane was holding a grudge because of Tess.

But nothing could be done.

Mitchie endured the pain and heartache she felt while she watched Shane sleep, tears pouring silently down her face. This was ridiculous, this was pointless. There was no reason to fall in love, no reason at all. But she _had_ and there was no going back now. It was all she had.

"Mitch?" She glanced up from her blank notebook, her inspiration entirely gone. She hadn't written a song in weeks, and _This is Me_ still sat unfinished, Final Jam coming up in less than two weeks. Jason stood at the door of her and Shane's cabin, a smile on his face. Ah, Jason. Sometimes he was the only reason for smiling anymore. His sweet and innocent personality was just too adorable to ignore. "I need your help, please."

She blinked. "What's the matter?"

He blushed and looked at his feet, making her smile. He was too cute for his own good. "What do you know about impressing girls?" he asked shyly, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Not much," she admitted truthfully. "How come? Ella?"

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, giving her such a sweet expression that she pulled herself away from her pointless task and walked over to him. "You want to get her to notice you, Jase?" she asked, punching him in the shoulder playfully. Jason nodded again, looking hopeful. "Well, I'm not much of a ladies' man, but I'll try to help you. But c'mon, a good looking, talented, funny guy like you? Who _wouldn't_ like you?"

Jason grinned. "Thanks, Mitch!"

"Of course, Jason."

--

It was dark, and they had just finished competing in the Backstage Jam, which was held at Camp Pop. Again Mitchie had sat out, but the problem with Shane had taken the back seat for the moment. This time, she sat out because she was scoping out the area for Jason and the plan they had formulated. Operation Impress Ella was a go, and she wanted to make him happy, even if she was not. Even if Shane didn't believe she didn't want anything to do with Tess Tyler, even if he didn't believe that Tess had kissed her first.

He wouldn't listen.

Mitchie shook her head. _No time for that now_, she thought, racing to meet up with Jason as he, Nate, and Shane walked off the stage. She grabbed the guitar player's hand, surprising his band mates, and pulled him aside. "Okay, Jase!" she whispered excitedly, glad to finally get Shane off of her mind at least for a little while. Her excitement was false, fake, forced, but it was the best she could do. At least he's gullible, was all she could be lucky for as they walked away from Nate and Shane, who both looked a little confused.

She hadn't bothered to let them in on the plan, nor had Jason, but it wasn't important. They weren't important to helping Jason impress the love of his life. She paused suddenly, and the two of them saw Ella and Peggy standing nearby, just chatting. Mitchie whispered, "I'll get Peggy's attention, and you're free to talk to Ella. Do you have the song you wrote?" He nodded fiercely, his acoustic guitar in hand as the two of them stepped forward. "Hey, Peggy!" she greeted happily.

The dark hair girl smiled. "Hey, Mitch, how are you?"

"I'm great," she said with a grin, turning Peggy to angle away from Ella and Jason. She winked at the guitarist and he nodded, turning to the young Hispanic girl with a shy expression.

Jason smiled at Ella, who smiled back at him, and they smiled silently at each other for a moment. "Hi, Ella," he said softly, and she held her hands behind her looking bashful.

"Hi, Jason," she replied her expression looking almost hopeful. He pulled out his guitar and she blinked, looking a little confused for a moment as he stared at the ground.

"I wrote a song for you," he mentioned, his hazel eyes meeting her sweet brown ones. "Do you want to hear it?" She nodded quickly and he laughed, pulling her away. Mitchie watched them go with a smile, sighing. Peggy glanced between her and the spot where Ella was standing beforehand, slightly bemused. She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head.

"Did you just set up Ella and Jason?" she asked curiously, and Mitchie nodded fondly, explaining how two incredibly slow creatures such as them would have taken legions longer to get with each other if they had been left to their own devices. Peggy merely laughed and went on her way, leaving Mitchie to stand by herself in the middle of the Camp Pop. She stood still for a moment. Now that Operation Impress Ella was almost complete, all the pain of Shane's rejection was eating at her heart again, and she felt like her chest was going to collapse in on itself if she let the problem fester any more.

She walked back to the stage where Backstage Jam had been held, and sat upon it, the rest of the other campers interacting with everyone else around her. She didn't have the inclination to speak to anyone, so it was someone who finally spoke to her. "Oh, Mitch."

She grimaced, her emotions flaring into anger at the sound of the voice. "What do you want Tess?" she hissed as the blond sat beside her on the stage. The girl looked slightly taken aback.

"That's not very nice Mitchie," she complained, crossing her arms in a huff.

Normally she wasn't a violent person, but right then, Mitchie wanted to slap Tess as hard as she could across the face. She yelled, furious beyond all belief and not caring that she caught the attention of all the other people in the vicinity, "Well, neither are you! Leave me alone, Tess, you're already ruined my life enough! I'm sick and tired you of thinking that you can do whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want, and not have any consequences." She put a hand to her mouth and wiped it off, looking disgusted. "And don't _ever_ kiss me again."

She stood up and stormed away, grabbing her one bag and climbing on to the bus to await the rest of Camp Rock to go back to where they were supposed to be.

Tess smirked. _Thank you for the evidence, Mitch._

--

Mitchie had been pleasantly surprised when Shane had sat next to her for the bus ride home, talking to her for the first time in days. He was generically friendly, like the way he would be to someone he had just met, but it was something. Though her head told her not to get her hopes up, her heart was piecing itself back together. When they arrived back at the camp, she had gotten off and headed straight for the cabin, saying good night to a euphoric Jason Black and a tired Nate White.

Shane followed her into the cabin, and she was surprised to hear him say, quietly, "Mitch?" She turned around to look at him, and he gave her a halfhearted smile.

"Yes?" she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

He looked at the ground. "I heard what you said to Tess today." She blinked, startled. "I believe you now, what you said to her. That you didn't really want to kiss her. And... I'm really sorry." Shane looked so vulnerable, and she felt her heart swell at the sight. Finally, everything would be back to normal, finally everything would be okay. She walked over and shook his hand, but her heartbeat escalated at the contact. He was so handsome, so unbelievably handsome, that her eyes just combed his face for a moment, taking in the sight. They hadn't been this close together in so long, their skin touching, even if it was just their hands.

But the attraction became too much, and even the promise of everything returning to normal wasn't one that was more appealing than what she had been wanting to do for most of the summer.

Mitchie didn't know what possessed her, but she threw her hands around Shane's neck and pressed her lips to his, all the pent up emotion she had been repressing finally letting loose. She loved Shane Gray from the moment she met him, she knew. Loved everything about him. His smile, his hair, his eyes that sparkled intuitively. His kindness and sincerity, his genuine character, everything. There was nothing to be done for living with someone for almost three months and falling in love with them, despite their faults.

Mitchie was in love with Shane. It sounded as natural as Juliet was in love with Romeo, though she hoped this romance ended a little bit better than theirs did.

At first he kissed her back, but then seemed to realize what he was doing. "Whoa, what the hell...?" Shane spluttered, pushing her away and nearly tripping backwards over his suitcase sticking out from under his bed. Her cheeks flushed red as she sat on her bed, staring at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to gather himself together again. He took a deep breath, glaring at her. "Mitch! Did you just kiss me?!"

She whispered, "I think so. But... let me explain..."

He rolled his eyes. "You're gay?"

"Uh... not exactly." That threw Shane for a loop, his expression confused as he slid down to sit cross legged on the floor. She took a deep breath, not sure how to go about this. It was too late. She had gotten in way over her head, this time there was no going back. No writing this off as something else. She had just _kissed_ Shane. Nothing she could make up would ever cover that up properly. She stood up and swallowed, unhooking the ace bandage from around her chest, and letting it fall out around her, pulling it from under the shirt. Walking over to Shane, who looked even more confused than before, she knelt by him.

"You're not going to kiss me again are you?" he asked warily and she smiled.

"I'm not and... neither is Mitchie."

"Mitchie?" It sounded so sweet when he said her real name.

She reached up and gently took his face in her hands, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Shane, my name is Mitchie Torres." She took his hand and placed it on her cheek, and the two of them stared at each other for a long time. Something flashed in his eyes, and Shane jumped back away from her as if he had gotten electrocuted. He stared at her in shock, his brown eyes wide with realization, and that realization made Mitchie's heart drop into her stomach.

But this was going to come around sooner or later. Might as well be now before it was too late, before the summer was over and she would never have the chance to explain to him. No matter what he was going to know, the only difference would be how he found out.

"Mitch-_ie_?"he gasped, understanding exactly what she was saying. "Mitchie? As in, you're a _girl_?!"

She shushed him, putting her hand over his mouth as they watched a few of the guys walk by in the dark outside their cabin. He hissed sarcastically, pushing her away again, "Yeah I guess I should be quiet until I tell Uncle Brown, shouldn't I?" Her heart dropped to the floor and she slid backwards onto her butt, her legs tilted before her as she stared at her feet.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I suppose so, Shane."

Shane stared at her for a moment, appraising her, before muttering to himself, "That's a relief."

"What is?"

His cheeks turned pink and he glared at her. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"True." They sat in awkward silence, looking back at each other trying to find something to say or do to break the quiet. It was unnerving, and Mitchie felt like she might explode from the anxiety. "I guess you should go tell Brown, now, shouldn't you?" she asked quietly, standing over to her dresser and pulling her things out to pack into her bags. Warm hands lightly took hers, and she saw Shane Gray watching her kindly as tears dripped down her face.

It wasn't in him to be mean, to be the jerk he sometimes pretended to be. He was himself, when the important things came. When things really mattered the most. And as Mitchie, through her glassy eyes, watched him, she could tell that he truly wanted to care, to know what was going on and help her.

Because Shane Gray was that kind of person.

"Tell me everything," he pleaded softly, holding her in a tight hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.

So she did. She started with her mother's phone called and her displeasure with the education at Camp Pop, her haircut and the new identity she created for herself, arriving in camp (and leaving out the part when she fell in love), meeting Caitlyn and how she instantly knew that Mitchie was a girl. Up through the confrontation with Tess Tyler and Nate discovering her secret, to now.

Shane was silent through her whole story, her hand held loosely in his own to comfort her when she burst into tears halfway through her tale. "And that's it," she sniffed, pulling another tissue out of the third box Shane had handed her. He stood up and began pacing the floor before her bed, contemplating as he picked up the ace bandage that had kept her form hidden for so long. "Though now it was all pointless."

"Maybe not," Shane said quietly, handing her the bandage. "Mitchie, I'm not going to tell Brown about you."

She stared up at him, unable to believe her ears. "What?"

"I'm not telling Brown," he repeated, as if he were talking to a mentally challenged individual.

She shook her head, utterly bemused. "But... why?"

His eyebrows rose in disbelief as he questioned, "Do you want me to?"

"No... but..." she began, but he cut her off.

"Then don't worry about it."

She frowned. "Fine." They stared at each other in silence, and he sighed, stepping away from her. Mitchie could tell he was at a loss for words at the moment, the awkward atmosphere between them almost tangibly holding them apart. She mentioned finally, to break the silence, "At least you know I don't like Caitlyn or Tess."

He shrugged, "You still _could_ be a lesbian."

Mitchie's humble demeanor vanished. "You're a _jerk_!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. She turned around and began to pack her things again, throwing them angrily into her suitcase. Shane was startled for a moment, staring at her actions before walking over and grabbing her hands, ceasing her packing. "Let go," she grumbled.

"What are you doing?" he asked, too surprised to make a witty comeback.

She tore her hands away from his, her skin feeling warmer where his hands touched it. "What does it look like? I'm leaving! If I have to spend even one day with your obnoxious, rude, self-centered, annoying self blackmailing me to get me kicked out of camp, I'll probably--" Her words were cut off as he put a finger to her mouth, rolling his eyes and putting his forehead in his free hand.

"I was kidding," he said plainly, shaking his head. "Please stay, Mitchie. C'mon."

She watched Shane's pleading expression, and looking back at her own hands, which still felt warm from the contact of his skin. She smiled and his face melted into relief. She was never immune to him, to his beautiful features that would make an angel cry, the angled parts of his face, those thoughtful brown eyes, and his lips that she knew now for sure were softer than anything she's ever touched in her entire life. He was one of those things that were too good to be true, too good for her.

Despite her strong disbelief for a happy ending with Shane Gray, she needed to spend as much time as she could with him, because a week and a half was not long enough to sate her need for him for the rest of her life.

But it would have to do. She smiled and squeezed his hand gently in hers before saying, "Sure."

**AN**: SO! How did you guys like the way Shane reacted? Did I disappoint anybody? I sure hope not D:

After this, chapter ten, there are exactly five chapters left, plus and epilogue. That's it, really, for what I have planned. But _Oh, Cinderella_ is gonna rock! And I also have another story in the works for after that one is done (I don't even KNOW how many chapters that's gonna be) called _Land of Make Believe_ which is going to be a chapter story for Nate/Caitlyn fans!

I also got another story idea for a Nate/Tess chapter story after that, since that got the most positive feedback and begging for more!


	12. 11: Stating the Obvious

**AN**: I know this chapter isn't really exciting, but please bear with me. I wanted a little time between where Shane knows and between... well, something else happening. Because you can't have drama all the time! I'm also dead tired. I went to the Bite of Las Vegas, which is a music and eating festival.

I got to see Metro Station, Secondhand Serenade, Puddle of Mudd, and Lifehouse for the big, signed bands. But I was mostly there for Metro Station and a local band that some of you know I love called Verbatym. They seriously rock! I've got a major crush on their guitar player Russell. He's really talented.

Here's chapter eleven!

Chapter 11: Stating the Obvious

Mitchie awoke the next morning, groggy, and shook out her hair. She sat up in bed and stretched her arms over her head looking around the cabin sleepily. On her bedside table sat something that hadn't been there previously, and she picked up the bouquet of wildflowers and read the note attached. _Thank you for staying, Mitchie. Camp Rock wouldn't be the same without you. See you at breakfast! -Shane_. She felt her cheeks flush as she put the flowers back down and climbed out of bed.

She sifted through her dresser and pulled out a pair of tight fitting jeans and a baggy checkered shirt. Grabbing the ace bandage from the bedside table--seeing as it no longer needed to be hidden--she got dressed, dancing around the cabin as she pulled her black Converse on her feet.

Mitchie was happy. Now, there was no secrets between her and Shane, now there was no reason for tension. She got dressed quickly and wrapped the flowers' stems in a wet paper towel to keep them alive. Hopping down the stairs two at a time, Mitchie smiled into the morning as the breeze brushed her hair around her face. The sun seemed brighter, the sky bluer, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The lake was glittering and all the foliage seemed greener than usual to her as she practically skipped down into the mess hall. "Morning!" she gushed cheerfully, gaining a few in a return as she scooted to sit in her customary seat by Jason.

The man of her dreams smiled at her, but before he could say anything, the hazel eyes boy blurted, "Mitch!" He threw his arms around her and squeezed her tightly around her shoulders. "Guess what?" Shane and Nate groaned softly, like they had heard the story a million times and really didn't want to hear it a million and one more.

But she didn't care, she was in too fabulous a mood. "What's that Jase?" she asked cheerfully, resting her hand in her chin.

"Ella is my girlfriend!"

"That's great! she exclaimed, giving him a high five. Then she laughed, giving Shane a sly look that made him slightly nervous. "Now, I just need to hook up Shane and I'll be three for three!" He rolled his eyes and laughed with her, causing Nate to furrow his brow in confusion. It was a huge change from breakfast just yesterday, when Mitchie refused to talk and Shane talked merely to him and Jason.

He mentioned, "You both seem to be in a better mood."

Jason laughed. "Obviously, Nate. It's 'cause they're happy for me and that made them happy with each other again!"

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Nate snapped, "That's not it at all Jason. Sheesh, why would that silly little thing make them stop fighting with each other?" Jason looked hurt, but Mitchie came to the rescue.

"Nate! How rude! Of course that's why!" she retorted, patting Jason's hand sympathetically and winking at the confused youngest member of their group. He sighed and smiled at her, trying to hold back his laughter as Jason grew ecstatic with the news that he was correct twice in one summer. Wriggling on the spot, he finished up his waffles and pulled out his cell phone, saying he was going to call his girlfriend before classes started.

Mitchie gushed as he cantered away, "They're so cute!" A few of the boys at nearby tables gave her strange looks, and Nate and Shane both gave her identical expressions of warning, though neither of them noticed that the other did. She forgot that Nate didn't know that Shane knew, and decided that she'd tell him later. It wasn't really important at the moment. "Sorry," she mumbled, picking at her toast nervously. Shane smiled at her and she felt her heart leap into her throat. _You really need to stop doing that_, she scolded herself fiercely, eating the bread in almost two bites.

"So." Nate accepted the responsibility of breaking the awkward silence. "What are we doing for the last jam of the year before Final Jam?" The three of them glanced to each other and Mitchie began to pick at another piece of toast nervously. He cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Did I miss something here?"

Mitchie murmured, "Well... when Shane and I were... fighting, I wrote a song that I was going to perform at Picnic Jam solo, so I wouldn't have to worry about screwing up when I was around Shane and he was mad at me." Shane flushed red at her words and stared determinedly out the window, trying to avoid Nate's glare but ending unsuccessfully.

"So did I," he said defeatedly, resting his chin on the table and looking away from both of them. "Just so I wouldn't have to deal with Mitch, though now we've made up. But it's too late to do a group project. Why don't you and Jason do something?" This time Nate looked uncomfortable, crossing his arms over his chest. A light bulb flickered on inside Shane's brain and he pointed accusingly at his friend, "You already have, haven't you?"

"So what?" he demanded, his ears pink. "I thought you two would never make up, so Jason and I have a song to do ourselves. Got a problem with that?"

Mitchie piped up, "It's okay. Since we've all got something to do, let's just go solo this time, okay?" The two boys agreed halfheartedly, and she didn't even bother to deal with Jason; he would agree just because the other two did. He was pretty easy to predict sometimes, and needless to say, she was right. He agreed immediately, and they broke off into three sects to go work on their songs before the Camp Pop girls were to be bused to them tomorrow.

Mitchie sat in her room, the euphoria of Shane knowing her secret still not worn off yet. She played around with the notes of _This is Me _on the music sheets, humming the melody to herself. Shane sat in the other side of the cabin, strumming on his guitar to a song she had never heard before. Curious, she tiptoed over to him and peeked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. "Hey!" he said in irritation, flipping the sheet music over.

"No fair," she whined.

"Of course it is," he said sternly. "You have to wait until tomorrow like everyone else." She frowned and sat in a huff on her bed, glaring at him goodnaturedly. He smiled and shook out his hair. "I want to make you squirm Mitchie," he said cheerfully, propping his elbow on his desk, "knowing that you inspired this song." Her eyes opened wide and she jumped up, shaking his shoulders.

She exclaimed, "_Really_?" He nodded, laughing at her reaction, and Mitchie danced on the spot, obviously excited, and ordered him, "It had better be good! Take as much time as you need! I can wait!" She hurried back to her own desk and left him to his own devices, however he quickly pulled out a new sheet of music and began to scribble out a song that he had in his head for a long time, that really was inspired by her. A few hours passed, and the only sounds that could be heard were that of a guitar and the humming of the melodies they both wrote out.

It was a peaceful atmosphere, tranquil as the scenery outside. There were a few guys horsing around outside, playing football with each other and razzing each other playfully. And though the old Mitchie would have found it annoying and hard to concentrate, she was so used to hanging around the male population that it didn't even phase her anymore. Occasionally Nate would come in complaining about Jason and how he was so hard to work with and he didn't know how Shane managed it, and Mitchie laughed in her little corner.

"You have to be nice to him," she commanded as he walked away and Nate shook his head, wondering how he was supposed to be nice to Jason and get him to learn his music at the same time.

But otherwise there were no problems. She finished her song with flourish, staring at _This is Me_ with a huge grin on her face. Finally it was done. But... she didn't think she could have done it without Shane knowing exactly who she was. Shane glanced back at her. "What's up Mitchie?" he asked, laughing at her expression.

"I finished my song," she cheered, looping her arm around his neck and waving the paper just before his nose. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Nice," he said approvingly, turning back to his own song. Mitchie smiled affectionately and ruffled his hair, making his shout out a complaint as she rushed away, sticking her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and she shrugged, standing next to him and crossing her arms.

She said, "Hey, Shane, let's go for a walk, huh?" He glanced up from his music and looked her, his brown eyes looking prettier than ever in the fading sunlight. He pursed his lips for a moment, contemplating, before smiling at her.

"Sure."

--

"So you're an only child?" Mitchie asked quietly as they strolled by the edge of the lake. The scenery was pretty, as the sun was setting, and the other campers were on their way to dinner as she and Shane were having their sudden heart to heart. But it wasn't like she wasn't enjoying herself, though. She was learning so much about him, and he about her, as well. She hadn't kept anything from him, and she was pretty sure he hadn't kept anything from her.

"Yeah, my dad's on the road a lot, he's a music producer. My mom used to be a backup singer for TJ Tyler, which is how I met Tess, at first. TJ was pretty bent on my dating her, but I didn't really like her."

Mitchie questioned, "She did something to you, didn't she?" He flinched and looked at the ground.

"...you could say that."

"Shane?" He glanced to her and saw that she had nothing but deep concern for him in her eyes. "What happened?"

He murmured, "Tess Tyler... cheated on me while I was her boyfriend. And from what I've heard, more than once. I guess I wasn't really good enough for her... I haven't dated anyone since then." Mitchie furrowed her brow, looking upset and angry at the same time. Shane waved his hands around. "It's okay, Mitchie! Really, I'm over it now." He smiled softly, and she felt her heart pound in her chest as he gently pushed her in arm. He said quietly, "I think I've found something else..."

She furrowed her brow. "What was that?"

Shane smiled and shook his head, and they sat in silence for a moment, smiling at each other. "Mitch!" They both glanced around and saw Nate hurrying up behind her. "Hey, come here, I gotta talk to you," he said hurriedly, pulling her along by her arm. She tried to tug out of his grip, but he dragged her along and Shane was too shell-shocked to say anything about it.

"Nathan White, what the hell are you doing?" she demanded as he dragged her into Shane and Mitchie's cabin and licked the door behind him for some odd reason. But she vaguely realized that it was to keep Shane out should he shake himself out of his stupor. He rolled his eyes and pulled her small purse out from under her bed and shoved it into her arms.

He grumbled, "You've got a feminine problem you need to take care of." Her eyes widened and she glanced around into the mirror, seeing a red spot blossoming on the back of her pants.

"Aw, man," she grumbled, but Nate quickly spun her around to face towards the door as Shane ran into it, trying to open it. He was vaguely surprised at first to find that his cabin door was bolted shut. "Shane?" Mitchie said, walking over to the door to open it. Nate grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

He hissed into her ear, "You can't let him see your problem!"

"Nate! What are you doing to her?" Shane demanded, tugging on the door again. For a moment Nate paused, what Shane had said sinking into his consciousness. But he still wouldn't let go of her, so finally she decided to take everything into her own hands since these two boys were going to be completely ridiculous.

"Nate!" Mitchie finally shouted, startling them as she pulled herself out of Nate's grasp. "He knows!"

He looked shocked, choking out a disbelieving, "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "_Shane already knows I'm a girl._" There was an awkward silence as Shane crossed his arms at the front of their cabin door, an eyebrow cocked. Nate unlocked it and the singer walked in, sighing as if a great injustice had been done to him. He slumped on a chair and glared at his best friend, indignant. He looked embarrassed and nervous, trying to make up for his mistake by profusely apologizing. "Now, if you two will excuse me," she grumbled, "I have a feminine problem I need to attend to."

Shane asked, "How did you manage it the first two months?"

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't so used to being a boy then." She stalked away with her bag as she hurried to the bathroom, glad it was dark and no one would see anything they didn't need to. Nate and Shane glanced to each other, silent for a long while. Shane already knew that Nate knew, but Nate didn't know that Shane knew. Until now that is.

"When did you find out?" Nate asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shane scoffed. "I always knew," he teased and Nate grimaced, not happy with the answer he was given. Shane smiled sheepishly at his expression and looked away, tapping his foot against this chair. "Yesterday," he admitted, tilting his head to the side. Nate chuckled and gave Shane a weak smile.

"Sorry I never told you man," he said apologetically. "I just... I didn't know how you would react. And Caitlyn and Mitchie really didn't want anyone else to know." Shane nodded acceptingly, staring after where Mitchie had left. Nate examined his expression and gave him a sly expression. "You're in love."

Shane nearly fell over at the statement. "Excuse me?" he asked in shock. Nate shook his head and looked away as the door opened again and Mitchie walked back in, wearing her pajamas.

"Oh, Nate, you're still here?" she asked with a smile, sitting next to Shane on his bed and pulling her legs up to her chest. "Have you and Shane gotten everything sorted out now?"

He grinned and winked at Shane. "I think I've given Shane a little to think on tonight, yeah." He stretched his arms and walked over to the door. Glanced out he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and sighed. "It's about to rain, keep your doors closed, guys." And then he was gone, heading over the trail back to his own cabin. Mitchie stood up and hugged Shane, snuggling into her own covers, turning off her bedside lamp.

"Go to sleep," she ordered gently. "You'll want to be rested for Picnic Jam tomorrow." He nodded as he stared into the darkness, her face barely visible from the glow of the dim outdoor lighting.

**AN**: LOVEBUG JUST STOLE MY HEART ALL OVER AGAIN. It was the most amazing music video I've ever seen. I want to gush, but I'll save that for some other time. Camilla Belle is SO pretty, and the video was SO good.


	13. 12: Too Little, Too Late

Chapter 12: Too Little, Too Late

Mitchie awoke the next morning, her head sore and cramps eating away at her abdomen, but she was happier than she had ever been. No more hiding from them and though tomorrow was a solo round for them, she was okay with that. It was time for her to show off her own skills on the guitar and with her voice. She stretched and jumped out of bed, downing a pain killer to throw off the dreaded cramps and she moved around the cabin, getting her guitar together to get started for Picnic Jam. It was better this time, because they wouldn't have to take the trip over to Camp Pop and she wouldn't need to pack certain necessities.

Quickly she got dressed and looked over her music one final time as she heard Shane rustling in his sheets. "Morning, sleepy head," she said in amusement, his bed head looking more ridiculous than usual. He grunted in reply, pushing the sheets out of the way and slipping his feet into his shoes, leaving the cabin to go use the bathroom. He came back about half an hour later, freshly showered and looking much more awake than he had before. With a grin he smacked Mitchie on the back, trying to peek at her work. "Hey!" she exclaimed, covering up her page, "No fair, if I can't see yours, then you can't see mine. Got it?"

"Yeah, fine," he replied, sounding irked as he slunk away back to his side of the cabin. It was sort of funny to see the difference between his side, which was messy and cluttered, and her side, which was clean and neat, even the bed was made. He pulled his music out from under a pile of dirty laundry and his guitar from under the bunk. He was keeping his thoughts mostly to himself, simply because he couldn't get his mind around what Nate had told him yesterday. He wasn't in love with Mitchie was he? Shane took a moment to examine the situation, feeling that it couldn't be the case. Sure she was funny, and great to be around, and once he got past the ridiculously short hair, she was actually kind of beautiful, but love?

Shane wasn't sure. Perhaps he liked her, a little. There was definitely something in his heart for this girl that he hadn't known was a girl but perhaps had a feeling was a girl from the start. His brain got dizzy from the run on sentences that were flowing through them, and he felt it was probably better that he didn't think about it so much right now. He stood from the bed, hoisting his instrument onto his back, and calling to the girl, "I'm going down to look at the stage, meet you there okay?"

"Kay!" she replied back, looking intently down on her music. She was completely oblivious of Shane's mental battle as she stood up herself, a self satisfied grin on her face. She was ready to show everyone what she could do. She closed the cabin door behind her and waved to Nate and Jason, who were leaving their cabin as well. "Nate, Jason!" she called, waving a hand at them. They waved back, and met up in the middle, heading down to the banks of the lake together.

"Where's Shane?" Nate asked curiously, glancing back to the cabin.

Jason piped up, "He's probably still asleep isn't he? He always needs an extra hour of sleep before a show, I think he thinks it makes him better."

Mitchie ignored this and replied, "Already scoping out the place, actually." Nate nodded and the trio made it to the stage, where Shane was strumming his guitar on the grass before it. Mitchie couldn't help but admire the light on his tanned skin, the way it made his handsome face look even more so, if that was possible. She shook her head slightly, getting that thought out of her head and knocking him in the back of his, making him almost snap a string.

"Unnecessary," he grumbled, putting his pick in his back pocket and giving her a smile that completely betrayed his mood. He was unusually happy today, whether it be because he was about to debut a new song, or because the new song he was going to play was about Mitchie. It was probably a mixture of the two, but he was pretty positive anything to do with the girl was bound to make him happier than normal. She shrugged at his statement and collapsed to the grass beside him, her legs splayed out before her.

She questioned, "You ready for this?" He nodded distractedly, his eyes set across the field. She followed his gaze, as did Nate and Jason, and saw with distaste that Tess and the other girls had arrived. If she were honest though, she didn't mind any of the others too badly. In fact, if she were really honest, she didn't mind any of them at all. Ella and Peggy and Caitlyn were all great girls that, in another life, she probably would have been amazing friends with. It was just Tess Tyler that rubbed her the wrong way, that set her on edge and gave her a bad taste in her mouth. She didn't understand why the blond girl couldn't just get along with everyone, but it seemed beyond her capacity as a human being to do so.

Mitchie tore her eyes away from the girl, who was actually staring at her in concentration for some reason, as if she was trying to figure something out. It made her uncomfortable, as if those piercing blue eyes could just see right through her. She elbowed Shane and the dark haired boy just shrugged, turning back to his guitar with a calm expression that she suspected took years to perfect.

Dee and Brown were bantering back and forth happily on stage, and Mitchie could hardly suppress the butterflies that were erupting in her stomach. Shane, of course, was the last act to go on, and she, surprisingly, was the Camp Rock act just before him. In between was Tess Tyler and her It Girls, not including Caitlyn Gellar, who had chosen to sit this round out. She wasn't sure what the change of line up was, why she was second highest billing of the guys, but she didn't mind really. It made her feel like she was important.

By the end of the hour, the place was crowded with all the kids from both Camps and the teachers, who were eager to see how this one turned out. It was the last Jam before Final Jam, and tension was starting to pick up. Mitchie knew that there would be no dirty play from any of the campers, though she wasn't quite so sure about Tess Tyler. She sat across from her and her friends the entire night, her eyes rarely away from Mitchie even though there were other kids performing. Again, that sinking, uncomfortable feeling fill her gut and she finally looked to Shane. "Tess won't stop staring—or glaring—or whatever you want to call it, at me." Shane glanced over and Tess quickly looked away, her eyes narrowed.

"Just ignore her," he advised. "She's just trying to freak you out. Don't let her get inside your head." His advice was sound enough, but Mitchie didn't know if she had the will power to not freak out. She was already nervous about performing alone, let alone with Tess staring at her like she was some sort of freak show or something. Which, if she really thought about it, she kind of was. What other girl could say that she dressed like a boy and got into an all boy's camp or school or program of any type? Probably not many, if any at all, at least that she'd heard of. Maybe she never heard of it because they were so slick they just didn't get caught. And she hoped above anything else that she wouldn't either; she wouldn't be able to handle the disappointment from her mom.

"Up next," Brown announced over the intercom as the sun began to fall from the afternoon sky, snapping Mitchie out of her musings, "is our very own Mitch Torres, performing solo this time." Mitchie ran up to the stage, her heart in her throat and could hear the blood pounding in her ears. This was it, time to prove herself and show everyone what she could do. She pulled her guitar around her neck and cleared her throat, preparing to sing.

"_How to choose who to be? Well lets see!There's so many choices now: Play guitar, be a movie star. In my head a voice says..._" She was completely lost in the music now, her voice taking over the words without even thinking about it. She was finally finished what she felt was the best song she had ever written, and now, here, she was performing it for all of them. She thought she'd never be able to do it, never be able to get it right. But she was so wrong. The melody left her lungs like it was just waiting to be discovered, the chords on her electric guitar just falling into place more perfectly than she could have ever dreamed.

"_Who will I be? It's up to me! All the never ending possibilities that I can see. There's nothing that I can't do. Who will I be? Yes I believe I get to make the future what I want to be. If I can make up any one and know the choice is up to me!_" Her eyes met Shane's, and she saw that his face was slack, his expression a mixture of shock, awe, pride, and something else that she just couldn't pick out in his eyes. But she didn't care; he thought she was amazing and that was all she needed to know. Shane's approval meant everything to her. His approval made her heart soar, made her music fly, made everything everywhere just seem like it was going to be all right. Nothing would ever be able to ruin this moment for her.

The final notes of her song echoed into silence as the crowd looked on in utter surprise. She fall out of her music daydream, and watched in shame as they just stared, no applause, no screaming or jumping up and down. She wondered what had gone—

Someone started to clap, and others joined in until a wild round of applause started, and the audience with the sole exception of Tess were hooting and hollering their own approval at her performance. She waved her thanks and hurried off the stage, her heart pounding but the butterflies now gone. "Yes!" she cried, punching her fist into the air happily. She had done it. Shane met her back stage, and pulled her into a hug.

"That was amazing," he told her truthfully, pushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Thanks," she replied, her cheeks turning warm at the gesture. She barely paid attention to Tess's show, but from what she saw, it seemed that it was robotic and unoriginal. Peggy and Ella were not into what they were doing and it hurt their overall performance. Mitchie didn't care. She was waiting for when the pop drama queen vacated the stage and Shane would go perform the song that he had written about her. For her. Or whatever he had said. She couldn't exactly remember the wording he used, but he had something to do with her, and that made her swell with giddiness.

"Finally," Dee la Duke said, ushering the bored looking Tess from the stage, "the final act of the night, Shane Gray!" The crowd cheered as he made his way to the stage, pulling a chair up as he put on his acoustic guitar. Mitchie held her knees to her chest, watching the musician with her complete attention. He took a moment to tune, and without further ado, he began to play.

He closed his eyes as he started to sing, "_Every time I think I'm closer to the heart of what it means to know just who I am I think I've finally found a better place to start but no one ever seems to understand. I need to try to get to where you are. Could it be, you're not that far?_" Her heart leaped and fell with every note, her body swaying to every strum on the guitar, the music seeping into her very heart. If she wasn't in love with Shane before, she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she was now.

"_You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing. I need to find you, I gotta find you._

_You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me. I need to find you, I gotta find you._" She couldn't believe that this song was about her, that he could have written something so powerful and wonderful all because of her. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but all she needed to know was that he did. And maybe, just maybe, a semblance of the feelings she had for him could be in his heart for her as well.

The song ended on a soft note, and the clapping and applause was almost deafening to her ears. Mitchie stood up and cheering louder than anyone, but the rest of the camp followed suit, nearly drowning Shane in hugs and handshakes and congratulations on writing such an amazing new song. But only she had the pleasure of knowing what it was about.

Shane joined Mitchie and Caitlyn and Nate, who were standing out of the crowd that housed Jason and Ella who were trying to hold a conversation over the racket and not seeming to understand why they couldn't hear each other. Tess stood nearby, unseen by the four of them, hiding behind a tree with one ear perked for any interesting tidbits. "My voice didn't give me away did it?" Mitchie asked worriedly, looking between her three friends.

"Not at all," Caitlyn said reassuringly, patting her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Mitchie, no one can tell." _Mitchie?_ Tess thought, wondering what the point of such a girly nickname was for the guy. Suddenly, it hit her, like a thousand bricks, like a wrecking ball. Her mind nearly screeched to a halt as she suddenly realized, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she knew, for sure, what the secret was behind this annoying new camper.

Mitch Torres, or rather, Mitchie Torres, wasn't going to be around to steal the spotlight for much longer. Tess hurried off, her mind working in wicked ways, trying to find the best, and easiest way, to get the new girl out of her hair forever.

AN: It's been over two years since I last updated this, but hey, better late than never right?

When I tell that to my boss she threatens to fire me.

But I hope I have better standing with you guys!


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